Bah Bah Black Sheep
by BranwenOSV
Summary: Ten years ago, a one night stand with Qrow changed Winter's life forever. When Winter takes her daughter Ivory to Beacon and Ivory inadvertently meets her father, it threatens to tear the Schnee family apart, all while a threat from the White Fang looms overhead. (Alt/Divergent Canon) (Mental Disabilities) (Mild Explicit Themes)
1. One Regretful Night

**A/N: This story came from a request by LadyBritish after reading a Qrow/Winter fic I did on AO3. As requested by LadyBritish, Ivory is going to have Asperger's (hence the "mental disabilities" tag). LadyBritish is providing me lots of insight and advice on how Ivory's character should be fleshed out, so I hope to be doing Ivory justice.**

 **This first chapter involves some mild explicit scenes.**

* * *

 _Ten Years Ago, Kingdom of Vacuo_

The tavern was filled to the brim with joyous huntsmen and huntresses, all celebrating the successful eradication of the Grimm. One of the cities was experiencing a rapid growth of Grimm numbers nearby, and Vacuo sought outside help from the other kingdoms. Atlas and Vale quickly joined forces and helped Vacuo slay the Grimm before they became a more serious threat. With the Grimm population now at a more stable number, tonight the hunters gathered together for a celebration before heading back to their respective kingdoms. One huntsman who was truly enjoying himself was Qrow Branwen, taking advantage of the complimentary food and drinks being served, especially the latter.

"Does this kingdom know how to treat a hard working huntsman or what?" said Qrow, gulping down another beer from his stein.

"Here here!" said Port, raising his stein to Qrow's. "Truly a feast for warriors!"

"I'm just glad I don't have to clean up your messes," said Goodwitch, annoyed as usual by Qrow's antics.

"Jeez Glynda," said Qrow, "lighten up! It's a party! Let loose for once in your life!"

"Party or not, we still need to maintain a professional demeanor while in another kingdom."

"Oh my God, you're sounding just like James."

"She has a point, Qrow," said Ozpin. "As much as I'd want all of us to enjoy ourselves, any reckless behavior can be seen as a slight against our kingdom, so please try to contain your excitement to a more manageable degree."

"Yeah yeah," said Qrow. "If anyone needs me, I'll be talking to more interesting people."

Qrow got up and headed to the bar to talk to the prettiest woman he could find.

On the opposite side of the tavern was the Atlas military led by James Ironwood. Whereas the other huntsmen were acting rowdy, Ironwood strictly ordered his men to not get caught up in the festivities. Sitting next to Ironwood was his new recruit, the eldest daughter of the Schnee family, Winter. Having recently turned eighteen, Winter joined the Atlas military to become a Special Operative and was Ironwood's personal apprentice. Ironwood was going over Winter's performance of her first SO mission.

"You showed good form out there," said Ironwood. "However, I noticed in some instances you went after Grimm that were beyond your current skill level. In other instances, you pursued Grimm you otherwise didn't need to eradicate."

"I got carried away," said Winter. "Once I defeated one of them, I couldn't help but continue pursuing more to defeat."

"I understand how good it feels to defeat the enemy, but you need to learn to choose your battles and send out your men appropriately. We'll discuss this further back home, but for now, here's to a successful mission."

Ironwood poured two glasses of wine for himself and Winter. The two raised their glasses and took a small sip. While Winter remained docile at her table, deep down she wanted to jump up and celebrate like the rest of the huntsmen. She was so happy to have completed her first real mission, making her decision to join the military rather than stay at some business college worth it.

As Winter took another sip of wine, she got a call on her scroll. She checked her scroll and instantly felt dreadful; it was from her father.

"Excuse me General," said Winter. "My father is calling me."

"Dismissed," said Ironwood.

Winter stood up and went outside so she can hear better, and to avoid having people witness what was sure to devolve into a fight.

Qrow was hitting on the huntresses at the bar, but sadly, none of them were interested in hooking up with someone they saw as an old man. Despite his failure, Qrow simply shrugged it off and went back to drinking another beer. As he looked around for someone new to talk to, he heard someone barge through the entrance of the tavern. He turned around and saw a familiar white-haired ice queen looking livid. Qrow and Winter had only talked to each other a couple of times from the meetings Ozpin and Ironwood held regarding this mission, and right away they didn't get along. Winter saw Qrow as an annoying brute who had no right calling himself a professional, and Qrow saw Winter as just another pencil pushing lackey under Ironwood's dictatorship.

With that said, he still felt the need to go over and see what was bothering the ice queen. Qrow got up and took a seat right next to Winter.

"Looks like the ice queen has got a hot temper," said Qrow. "What's eating you up?"

"Not tonight, Qrow," said Winter. "Please for the love of God, I don't need your bullshit tonight!"

"Look, I know we don't exactly get along, but tonight should be a happy night. We saved a kingdom and kicked Grimm ass, so I'm not leaving until I see you smile like everyone else!"

"I'm not in the mood to smile right now."

"Too tense to even smile, huh? I know just what will relax your nerves. Barkeep, two Scotches on rocks!"

The barkeep quickly poured two glasses of Scotch for Qrow and Winter. Winter immediately took her glass and tried to down the whole drink in one go. It was the first time Winter ever had a drink outside of wine and realized how bitter Scotch is, nearly spitting it back up upon realizing her misjudgment.

"Easy there, kid," said Qrow. "You should never drink out of anger. Now, what's on your mind?"

"My father is being a pain in the ass as usual," said Winter. "Son of a bitch thinks he can control me like I'm one of his business assets."

"Well, you know how the saying goes: His roof, his rules."

"That's the reason why I joined Atlas' military; to get out from under his damn roof." Winter finished the rest of her glass and signaled the barkeep for another shot. "He wants me behind a desk to run one of his companies, turn me into just another executive crony."

"That's just how dads are," said Qrow. "He wants to do what he thinks is best for you and protect you from the dangers of the outside world. I mean, a lot of parents don't like their kids taking dangerous jobs like soldiers or huntsmen."

"As if!" said Winter, taking another sip of Scotch. "That man makes his decisions methodically. He doesn't see people; he sees cogs in a system. If I died, he'd just replace me like everything else of his that breaks. That man doesn't love me."

"Yeah, you're probably right. This is Schnee we're talking about after all."

"You're not one to pull punches, are you Qrow?"

"Never see the reason not to. How do kids these days put it? 'I keeps it real!'"

"As much of a jerk as you are, I can respect that."

Qrow and Winter tipped glasses and drank another shot of Scotch each. Winter didn't know if it was the alcohol or being in the presence of Qrow, but she can feel herself starting to feel a lot more at ease.

"Someday when I have kids," said Winter, "I hope to never be like my father."

"You say that now," said Qrow, "but in the end, everyone winds up like their parents."

"Out of curiosity, do you have kids?"

"Aside from my two beautiful nieces, nada."

"Do you ever plan on having kids?"

"Nope! You'll never see me attached to a ball and chain, let alone have kids!"

"Bachelor for life, huh?"

"Damn right! Don't need a woman holding me back from doing what I love!"

"Then you're missing out on the great experience that is romance."

"Somehow, I think I can manage."

As Qrow and Winter continued to chew the fat at the bar while enjoying their drinks, Ironwood was starting to get worried. It had been a while since Winter stepped out to talk to her father, and she didn't return to their table. Ironwood got up to look for Winter. To his surprise, he found her sitting at the corner of the bar talking to Qrow.

"Is everything all right, Winter?" asked Ironwood.

"It is now!" said Winter, finishing her glass of Scotch.

"Winter, what have you been drinking?"

"A couple of Scotches," replied Winter. As soon as the barkeep poured another shot for her, Winter held up her glass and smiled. "Make that three!"

"Winter, you cannot be drinking so heavily like this!"

Ironwood took the glass out of Winter's hand before she can even get a taste.

"You put her up to this, didn't you Qrow?"

"So the lady wants to drink," said Qrow. "It's not like I'm her boss!"

"He has a point, sir," replied Winter. Ironwood was not amused by Winter's change in behavior.

"I expect better discipline from you, Winter," said Ironwood. "I think you've had enough partying for one night. I want you back in your hotel room now, and Qrow, since you like to be such a gentleman, you can escort her."

"But sir, I'm not-"

"Those are your orders, Miss Schnee, and I expect you to follow them!"

"Come my lady," said Qrow, "I'll take you back."

Qrow stood up and held out his hand, putting on a smug grin to appear more like a gentleman. Winter reluctantly grabbed Qrow's hand and was escorted out of the tavern. Luckily the hotel Winter was staying in was only a couple of blocks away, so it wouldn't be a long walk.

As they walked down the street, Qrow can hear Winter mumbling to herself.

"God dammit," muttered Winter over and over again.

"What's wrong now?" asked Qrow.

"I just disrespected the General and made an idiot of myself. He's going to reprimand me hard for sure!"

"So what?"

"So what?" yelled Winter, letting go of Qrow's hand. "It means I can lose my job, you ass! My career will be over and I'll have to crawl back to my father!"

"Okay ice queen, no need to flare up like that! I'm just saying this is James we're talking about; he's not exactly the best guy to work for. Hell, I'd probably rather work for Schnee than Captain Jimmy."

"I respect the General, okay? Ironwood is a man of action! He'll fight on the frontlines himself if he has to! I'm honored to be serving under him!"

Winter almost felt like bursting into tears. She was extremely nervous about her situation, especially if it meant having to work for her father like he always intended. Qrow patted Winter on the back.

"You're going to be fine," assured Qrow. "I doubt James is going to fire you over one minor incident. You're too valuable of a brown noser for him to just let go."

"Even when you try to be assuring," said Winter, "you're still such an ass. But...thanks, I guess." Winter felt her anxiety start to subdue and formed a little smile, enough to satisfy Qrow.

"You're welcome, my lady," said Qrow, putting on his fake smug smile.

Finally arriving at the hotel, the two headed to the elevator. Winter's suite was located near the top floors of the hotel. With the two standing alone in the elevator, Winter was having more thoughts about Qrow.

 _"At first I thought he was just an irresponsible manchild, but his carefree attitude made him easy to hang around with. I feel far less anxious to talk to him than I ever do with Ironwood. Ass or not, the man is always brutally honest. Never holds back his feelings, feels free to do what he wants, and he looks pretty good. Wait, why am I thinking of that all of a sudden? I don't care about his looks! Although..."_

Winter was so entranced in her thoughts about Qrow that she didn't realize when they got off the elevator and were standing in front of her hotel room door.

"Here we are," said Qrow. "I'm sure you can take things from here."

"Huh?" said Winter. "Oh, we're here!"

"You spacing out there, ice queen?"

"No! It's just..."

"Whatever. Good night, ice queen."

"Wait!" said Winter, grabbing Qrow's hand before he can leave.

"What now?" said Qrow, starting to get annoyed. "Need me to tuck you into bed?"

"Could you...well...stay with me for a bit longer?"

"Yeah, I guess I can keep you company for a little while. I doubt Ozzy and the others are waiting up for me."

Winter opened her hotel room door and took Qrow into the living room of her deluxe suite. Qrow looked around and was irked to see how big the suite was.

"So this is what James wastes his money on?" asked Qrow, sitting down on the couch and placing his feet on the coffee table. "Who needs an apartment sized room for a friggin' huntsman mission?"

"For someone who doesn't like the space," said Winter, taking a seat next to Qrow, "you were quick to make yourself comfortable like that."

"Might as well take advantage while I can."

"Speaking of advantages, now that it's just between you and me...can I ask you some things?"

"Shoot."

"Were you serious about not having kids?"

"Absolutely. I don't have the time or patience to deal with some little nightmares who never listen, or having to hear their mother nag about awful her day was while I'm out risking my God damn neck to provide for them."

"So you really don't plan on getting married either?"

"Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"Yes, but I wasn't sure if you were truly being honest. Just what are your plans for the future, Qrow?"

"To keep doing what I'm doing. I'm not the romantic, family type kind of man. I'm a huntsman first, foremost, and forever. It's what I was born to do."

"...I guess your mind is already made up."

"You sound disappointed. Were you expecting anything different?"

"I was trying to confirm what I thought of you. On the one hand, you come off like a man who wants to avoid the responsibility of raising a family. On the other hand, you're free to do what you please, and well...it makes me kind of jealous."

"I'm sorry, did I hear that right?" asked Qrow, leaning towards Winter while cupping his ear. "The rich Schnee girl is jealous of ME?"

Winter suddenly got on the couch and grabbed Qrow by the collar and pulled him towards herself.

"You're damn right I'm jealous! While I have to obey my father and Ironwood, you don't have to take shit from anybody! You are your own man!"

Winter placed a finger on Qrow's chest, a devilish grin forming on her face.

"And a damn sexy one at that."

"I have to admit," said Qrow, moving Winter's hair aside to get a better view of her face. "For a girl named Winter Schnee...you are hot as hell."

"You know...since we're already here with nowhere else to go..."

Winter and Qrow slowly crawled closer to each other until they both had their arms wrapped around each other's waist.

"Let's cap this celebration with a bang. What do you say, Qrow?"

"I was never one to turn down a pretty lady's request."

As soon as Qrow accepted Winter's request, the two locked lips in a passionate, lust filled kiss. After making out on the couch for several minutes, the two quickly moved to the bed and discarded their clothing. Qrow wrapped his arms around Winter and bit down on her neck, leaving a bright pink love mark in his wake. Qrow left several marks all over Winter's body that was sure to be questioned by Ironwood, but Winter didn't care. She didn't care that her first time was going to be with a man at least a generation older than her, or how she was surely not going to get enough sleep when she'd have to pack up and leave just before dawn. The only thought going through her mind was if Qrow was as good at making love like he was at hunting Grimm. By the time Qrow reached her lower lips and started performing cunnillingus, Winter was now far lost in pleasure to think about anything else.

After Winter had her first orgasm of the night, Qrow positioned himself on top of Winter; Winter wasted no time spreading herself for Qrow. Once Qrow fully inserted himself into Winter, Winter wrapped her arms and legs around Qrow. Qrow bent forward and locked lips with Winter, driving his tongue into Winter's mouth; Winter happily swirled her tongue around his, tasting a bit of her own juices. As Qrow was about to release, Winter held on to him as tight as she could; she wanted to experience his release inside of her.

Winter couldn't remember much after their first go-round, but what she did know was that this was sure to be the best night of her life.

#

 _One Month Later_

Winter wanted to die.

It started when her chest began to feel more sensitive than usual. Then she noticed herself feeling more tired than usual after sparring sessions with Ironwood. At first Winter brushed it off as feeling the aftermath of her big mission in Vacuo, or perhaps she had eaten something unusual during her stay, and that she'd feel normal again after a few days. Those few days were now turning into weeks, and to top it off, she could have sworn she was supposed to have her period several days ago. All the signs were pointing to the one thing Winter was hoping wasn't true.

But when her pregnancy test read positive, she can feel her soul leave her body. Life as she knew it was over.

Now Winter was sitting in her father's office in a meeting consisting of just her, Schnee, and Ironwood. Winter had initially told only Ironwood about her pregnancy, hoping he would confide it to himself, but Ironwood soon told Winter's father afterwards believing that Schnee had to know what was going on. Winter should have known Ironwood would do such a thing as Ironwood was fiercely loyal to Schnee - it was that loyalty that helped convince Schnee to have Winter join the military in the first place - but she always trusted Ironwood's decisions. Her father then called for a meeting with the three of them.

Whereas most fathers would flip out upon hearing such news, Schnee kept himself calm and collected. That made Winter feel worse than if he was angry; it had to mean Schnee had something planned for his daughter, and knowing him, it was going to be for his benefit.

"My dear eldest daughter," said Schnee, "you're now facing quite a dilemma. I have to say, I thought it would be at least another five years before I would become a grandfather. Children grow up so fast, don't they?"

"Mister Schnee," said Ironwood, "I am deeply sorry for allowing this to happen under my watch!"

"Now now Ironwood, it wasn't you who made the reckless decision. So Winter, what do you plan to do now?"

"I'll resign from the military effective immediately," said Winter. "I'll take whatever position you have."

"I'm sorry, but who was it that said they would climb the ranks of the Atlas military and would not need any more of my charity? I'm afraid I can't let someone with that attitude work under my employ. But don't worry Winter; I'm sure a single mother working as an SO in training can make plenty of money to support her child; and I'm sure you'll find plenty of time to take care of your child while working a job requiring more hours of labor than most full-time jobs."

"I get it!" yelled Winter. "You win, okay? I can't handle having this child by myself! Is that what you want to hear?"

"Winter, calm yourself!" said Ironwood.

"Relax, my daughter," said Schnee. "Now that you've admitted defeat, I will be more than glad to help you. It would be a disastrous affair for you to have that child, but thankfully, since you're only one month into your pregnancy, it won't be hard to get an abortion. I'll arrange for an appointment-"

"No!" interrupted Winter, standing up from her chair. "I am not getting an abortion! I'm keeping this child!"

"That's ridiculous!" said Ironwood. "Winter, you are in no position to be raising a child right now! You haven't even completed your SO training!"

"I know, but I can't simply kill my child just because I can't handle the responsibilities!"

"You're talking nonsense! Are you really going to throw your life away just to raise the child of some drunken bastard who-?"

"Enough!" said Schnee. "Winter, please sit back down."

Winter sat down, furious that the two of them even contemplated such a decision.

"I see you feel really strongly about keeping this child, despite the circumstances. If you really want to keep this child, I will help you."

"Under what conditions?" asked Winter. She knew there was going to be a catch, so there was no reason to feel relieved just yet.

"Just one. When the time comes, that child works for me."

There it was. That was the plan Schnee had all along. With Winter refusing to work under him, and Weiss being a mystery, Schnee had no one left in the family to pass his tainted company along to. But now that Winter was expecting, if his daughters weren't going to take over the business, at least it would be his grandchild. Schnee had Winter right where he wanted her, and Winter, like so many competitors who felt Schnee's wrath, was powerless to do anything.

"How are you going to help?" asked Winter.

"If word got out you had a child out of wedlock, it would destroy this family in the eyes of the public, so here's what we'll do. You'll be 'assigned' a mission in Mistral during your pregnancy. I have many connections with people in Mistral who can keep the news from getting out. Once your child is born, we'll put out a story claiming you found the child abandoned, and the child will be raised here as my adopted daughter. The only people who will know who this child's real parents are will be you, me, and Ironwood. At no point do I want you to contact the real father, and at no point is your child to ever know who their real parents are. Do we have a deal?"

Schnee stuck out his hand, waiting for Winter to confirm. There was no point for Winter to mull it over; Schnee had her in checkmate. Winter looked away from her father and shook his hand with a feeble grip.

The following week, Schnee and Ironwood prepared everything for Winter's stay in Mistral. As far as anyone outside of them knew, Winter was being assigned on a covert mission while still undergoing training with Ironwood. The mission was scheduled to last approximately eight months. For Winter Schnee, those eight months would feel like a lifetime.

#

 _Eight Months Later_

Schnee and his daughter Weiss were sitting down to dinner when one of the servants came to Schnee with the house phone.

"Sir, you have a phone call. It's from Winter."

"From Winter?" said Weiss, suddenly looking up. Winter had only spoken to Weiss a handful of times, just to assure Weiss that she was okay during her big secret mission. Schnee took the phone and headed to another room. After Schnee was done with his conversation, he hung up and sat back down with Weiss. Weiss was worried that something terrible had happened to Winter.

"Father, did something happen to Winter?"

"Winter is just fine. She's going to return from her mission very soon. However..."

"What's going on? What happened to Winter?"

"There was a raid involving the White Fang. They invaded someone's home and took the occupants hostage, and then ultimately killed them. After Winter took out the White Fang, they inspected the home and found a baby girl inside. It seems the hostages killed were that girl's parents. Winter is going to bring that child home with her. Weiss, you're going to have a little stepsister."

"A...stepsister? I'm going to have a baby sister?"

Weiss couldn't believe what her father had told her, and she really didn't until a few days later when the Schnee family arrived at the airport and off of the airship came Winter, carrying a little child in her arms. Weiss immediately ran up to get a look at the child. She had her eyes closed and a bit of white hair on her head.

"She's so cute!" exclaimed Weiss.

"Does the child have a name?" asked Schnee.

"We couldn't find any signs of a name in the home," said Winter. "So I've decided to name her Ivory. Ivory Schnee."

"Hello Ivory!" said Weiss. "If you can hear me, I'm Weiss!"

"Weiss, please," said Schnee. "You may wake the child up. I'll have the servants take things from here. Come Winter, you must feel very exhausted from such a mission."

"Indeed," said Winter.

The servants took Ivory and transported her in a separate vehicle for safety, while Winter and Weiss were in their limo heading back to their manor. Weiss was trying to ask Winter many questions about everything Winter had done during the past eight months until their father ordered Weiss to leave Winter alone.

"Your sister is tired and exhausted, Weiss," said Schnee. "Winter will explain everything when she gets home. For now, she needs some rest."

"I'm sorry!" said Weiss.

"It's okay, Weiss," said Winter. "It's great to be back home."

"I still can't believe you brought home a baby! I'm sorry her parents were killed by those filthy monsters, but I'm kind of excited. Now I get to be an older sister like you!"

"Yeah Weiss...you're an older sister now."

Winter smiled for Weiss' sake. Hearing Weiss call herself an "older sister" felt like a stab right through Winter's heart. As far as her little sister and the world at large knew, Ivory Schnee was adopted after her parents were murdered by the White Fang. For the rest of her life, Winter would have to live with this lie of Ivory being the third Schnee daughter. It was a lie that Winter was going to have to take to her grave.

A grave she sometimes wished she was in right now.


	2. Ivory Schnee

As upsetting as it was for Winter to move back into the family estate and have Ivory raised under Schnee's care, at least she knew Ivory was going to be safe, and Schnee spared no expense in paying for anything Ivory needed. It was too bad his selfless gestures started and stopped in the financial department, as Winter and her father batted heads over everything involving Ivory; they even argued about the way Ivory should look.

By the time Ivory had turned five years old, her hair had grown to shoulder length. Much like the Schnees, her hair was bright white in color, but she also had black streaks on the outer most sides. She also had bright red eyes that were a big contrast to the Schnee family's crystal blue. It bothered Winter's father that Ivory didn't fit the Schnee image and was insisting on getting Ivory's hair dyed or cut off entirely and putting on contacts to change her eyes, but Winter was keen on letting Ivory stay the way she looked. Schnee eventually dropped the subject of Ivory's looks when he realized that the less Ivory looked like a typical Schnee, the less suspicious the public would be of who Ivory's parents were. At least Ivory was wearing the proper uniform of a crystal blue dress over her white collared shirt.

Now that Ivory was five, she would begin her private schooling much like Weiss and Winter had growing up. Weiss was hoping to tutor Ivory herself or at least serve as a teacher's assistant, but had her own lessons to focus on. While Winter would work on her SO training during the day, Schnee would be tutoring Ivory himself. Ivory's "classroom" was very minimal, having only the student and teacher desks, the e-board, and some other educational equipment in the corner. Despite being homeschooled, Schnee had his daughters treat their schooling like normal, and expected them to arrive to their proper rooms on time.

Ivory was having trouble getting to her room on time. The first two days Schnee had to go to Ivory's room and found her playing around instead of getting ready, which lead to Schnee scolding her for misbehaving, which lead to Ivory throwing a tantrum and having a meltdown, which took up half of the day's assigned school time. Today Schnee had one of the assistants help Ivory get to her class on time.

"Hello, papa!" greeted Ivory.

"Finally," said Schnee. "Now Ivory, unpack your books and take out a piece of paper and pencil. Today we're going to focus on our five frames."

Ivory sat down and took out her paper and pencil, as well as her Pyrrha Nikos doll she always liked to carry around. Schnee didn't care much for Pyrrha, but Ivory loved Pyrrha ever since Weiss showed Ivory one of Pyrrha's tournament matches in Mistral. Carrying around that doll usually kept Ivory quiet or occupied, so Schnee decided to let Ivory keep the toy for now.

"Now, a five frame is a rectangle with five boxes within. We will be using these frames to learn how to count to five and what numbers add up to five. Make a five frame on the top of your paper like so."

Schnee drew his five frame on the board. He expected Ivory to follow along, but instead saw Ivory having a swordfight with Pyrrha and her pencil.

"Ivory, are you listening to me?"

"I'll erase you, Pyrrha!" said Ivory, taking the eraser and poking at Pyrrha.

"Oh no, my aura is being erased!" said "Pyrrha."

Before Pyrrha can fight back against the evil pencil monster, Schnee came along and snatched the doll out of Ivory's hands.

"Enough!" said Schnee. "We've been over this, Ivory! This isn't play time!"

"Give it back!" yelled Ivory, trying to reach up and grab the doll.

"You're not getting this doll back until the end of your lessons!"

"I. WANT. PYRRHA!"

Ivory kept trying to reach up and grab the doll, but there was no chance of her getting the doll back. Schnee threw the doll into his desk and locked the drawer. Seeing this caused Ivory to get out of her chair and start rolling around on the ground flailing her limbs, screaming and wailing for her doll.

"Scream all you want Ivory," said Schnee. "You're not getting Pyrrha back until you learn to behave yourself."

Schnee sat at his desk and waited for Ivory to get worn out from her latest temper tantrum. About an hour later, Ivory was still loud and rolling around. Schnee finally got fed up with Ivory and decided to call Winter.

"Winter, I need you to come here," said Schnee. "Ivory is going insane again."

"What did you do this time?" asked Winter.

"I acted like a responsible adult."

"Of course you did. I'll be right there."

Winter immediately came home as quick as she could. Upon finding out Schnee had taken the Pyrrha doll again, Winter made her father give the doll back. Ivory took her doll and went to a corner to talk privately with her doll, even though she was talking loud enough for them to hear. With Ivory back to being calm, Schnee pulled Winter out of the room to talk to her alone.

"This is the third time Ivory has behaved this way," said Schnee. "You need to get that girl under control!"

"Maybe it's because you keep yelling at her and taking her toys that she freaks out like that!" said Winter.

"It's called discipline! Something you seem to lack enough of, hence why you're in this mess in the first place!"

Winter always hated whenever her father rubbed her mistake in. Every time he did so, she had to prevent herself from slapping her father for making such remarks.

"Very well," said Winter. "So Ivory is starting to have behavioral problems. What do you think we should do?"

"First thing tomorrow, we are going to take Ivory to see a doctor and get this fixed."

"Fine. Ivory is due for a checkup anyway."

#

The next day Winter and Schnee took personal days off from their respective jobs to take Ivory to a doctor. Thanks to Schnee's wealth, they could see the best doctors in Atlas without any wait time. They expected the checkup to last approximately half an hour, but they had been sitting in the waiting room for over an hour, which was starting to worry Winter.

"What could be taking so long?" asked Winter.

"She's probably throwing another tantrum and making the doctor's job harder," said Schnee. "I miss the days when a man can fix such nonsense with his belt."

"Could you not ever mention that idea again?"

"Back in my day, you were lucky if you had a father who used his belt as opposed to say...throwing a glass bottle. That's probably what HE would have done."

Winter took a nearby magazine and started crushing it in her hands. It was bad enough Winter could hardly act like a real parent for Ivory, but she hated whenever Schnee questioned how good of a father Ivory's true dad would have been, especially when he was being kept out of the loop concerning Ivory's existence.

Luckily, before Winter snapped and lashed out at Schnee, both were called into the doctor's office. Inside the office, Ivory was in the corner playing her with Pyrrha doll and some of the office toys.

"So doctor, have you found a way to stop Ivory's tantrums?" asked Schnee.

"I'm afraid there's more to Ivory's problem than simple behavior issues," said the doctor.

"Oh my God," said Winter, suddenly feeling sick herself. "Is something wrong with her?"

"We believe Ivory has Asperger's syndrome."

Hearing Ivory being diagnosed caused Winter to nearly faint. She sat down and tried to catch her breath, while Schnee was skeptical of the doctor's diagnosis.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Schnee. "How do you know it isn't just her misbehaving? Don't most kids act crazy at this age?"

"Every autism patient is unique, but she does show the signs most commonly found amongst children with Asperger's. Anytime I tried to ask her a question, she wouldn't want to respond. I tried to get her to relax by talking about that Pyrrha doll she likes, but then she wanted to do nothing but talk about Pyrrha. She was also trying to hide herself any time one of my assistants came into the room to help."

"So she acts silly or shy and suddenly that's a mental disorder? Back in my day it wasn't called Asperger's, it was called being a brat!"

"Times have changed, Mister Schnee. Your daughter is starting to show the early signs of the disorder. Like yourself, most people would dismiss this diagnosis until the child reaches ten to eleven years old, and by that time the disorder becomes far more stressful to handle."

Winter felt like she wanted to throw up. She didn't know how, but she felt like she was the one who caused Ivory to be this way.

"How could she...I mean, what caused this to happen?" asked Winter.

"It's not really known what causes it. Research indicates it has to do with a random mutation in the genes during the pregnancy phase."

"In the genes? Could this be hereditary?"

"It hasn't been fully proven, but some research shows that Asperger's could be somewhat hereditary. This girl's parents may have had the disorder themselves. Do you know anything about Ivory's real parents?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"Out of curiosity," said Schnee, "would alcoholism have anything to do with it?"

"In what way?" asked the doctor.

"What if the father turned out to be some worthless drunk? Would his drinking habits have affected the child's genes?"

"How do we know it isn't from the mother's side of the family?" replied Winter, knowing damn well what her father was not-so-subtly implying.

"I can't really say," said the doctor. "There's several unknown factors that can cause mental disabilities."

"So how do we cure this disorder?" asked Schnee.

"There is no cure, Mister Schnee. Ivory will have to learn to adapt to her condition."

"Then are we supposed to do?"

"The best thing we can do for Ivory is have her see an occupational therapist to help refine her social and motor skills to prevent her from having constant meltdowns. Girls her age also tend to have very active imaginations; I suggest planning several activities to give her an outlet for her creativity."

"Very well. We'll set up a routine for Ivory as soon as possible. Come along Ivory, we're going!"

Ivory ignored Schnee and kept playing with her toys. Knowing her father was going to lose his patience, Winter quickly went up to Ivory to get her attention.

"Ivory, it's time to go home, okay?" said Winter.

"But I'm not done playing!" said Ivory.

"Now Ivory, father says we have to go home, and not listening to father makes you a bad child. Imagine what Pyrrha would think if she found out you were a bad child!"

"No! I don't want Pyrrha to think I'm bad!"

"Then let's hurry home, okay?"

Ivory put down all the other toys and grabbed Winter's hand. As they were leaving the doctor's office, Winter looked into her father's eyes and smirked.

"No belt required," remarked Winter.

#

Schnee gave up trying to get Ivory into a homeschool routine and instead had the therapist work with Ivory while Schnee went back to his office. Although it freed Schnee's schedule so he can continue focusing on his work, he hated how his plans to have Ivory take his place were likely not going to happen. The Schnee Dust Company needed to be lead by someone with an intelligent and somewhat normal personality, and Ivory was going to turn out to be neither. He already began making plans to renege on his deal with Winter; he'd rather let his daughter face shame than let a mental patient run his company.

With the therapist's time almost up, Schnee came home to check on Ivory. Not surprisingly, he saw Ivory playing with that Pyrrha doll he was starting to hate more and more every day, while the therapist just sat back and let Ivory do whatever she felt like.

"Hello, papa!" greeted Ivory.

"Hello Ivory," said Schnee. "Did you have fun today?"

"I had lots of fun! Mister Pewter let me play with Pyrrha and we had snacks and we also got to draw!"

"Ivory was very interested in drawing, Mister Schnee," said Pewter. "I believe art can be a great tool for her."

"Look at what I drew, papa!"

Ivory handed Schnee a folded-up piece of paper. Schnee assumed it was going to be some crayon filled mess with Ivory trying to describe blobs that looked nothing like they were supposed to. He unfolded the paper and saw a penciled-out sketch of himself with horns sticking out from the side of his head. Surprisingly, it looked somewhat realistic; it appeared to look more like a drawing a beginner art student would make rather than a hyperactive five-year-old.

"You drew this?" asked Schnee.

"Uh-huh!" said Ivory. "Mister Pewter said to draw whatever I can think of, and I decided to draw you!"

"So why do I have horns on my head?"

"They're bull horns! Because you're big and tough like a bull!"

Ivory put two fingers on her head and started ramming into Schnee, pretending to be a bull. The more Schnee looked at the drawing, the more it baffled him. Ivory acted like she barely paid attention and retained anything Schnee told her, yet the drawing had many little details she couldn't possibly have remembered off the top of her head. Aside from the horns that made him look like one of those Faunus freaks, his face was in perfect symmetry, and she even made sure to add the right amount of mustache hairs.

Schnee decided to investigate Ivory's behavior himself during dinner time. Because of Schnee's schedule, he rarely sat down to a meal with his family, but tonight he insisted to eat with his family at the same time, especially with Ivory. Winter was away completing her SO assignments, so it was just Schnee, Weiss, and Ivory at the table. Their dinner started with a salad as per usual. While Schnee and Weiss ate accordingly, Ivory was taking every piece of salad off her plate and setting it aside.

"Ivory, why aren't you eating your salad?" asked Schnee.

"I need to separate it," said Ivory.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Ivory always does this, father," said Weiss. "That's why she takes forever to finish dinner."

By the time Ivory finished separating her salad by all its ingredients, Schnee and Weiss were already halfway done through their main course. Ivory started eating the ingredients one at a time. Once she was completely done with one ingredient, she moved on to the next. She even did this with her main course. While Weiss finished and went back to her room for her night studies, Schnee stayed at the table to keep observing Ivory.

After a painstakingly long dinner, Schnee escorted Ivory back to her room. Schnee hardly went into his children's bedrooms, so he was somewhat surprised to see how meticulously organized all of Ivory's toys were. Surely this had to be the work of either Ivory's sisters or the housekeepers. As Ivory got changed and ready for bed, Schnee went next door to Weiss' room.

"Something wrong, father?" asked Weiss.

"Weiss, who cleans Ivory's room?" asked Schnee.

"Ivory does."

"All by herself?"

"Sometimes Winter or the maids will try to help, but Ivory throws one of her tantrums if they don't put the toys in the exact order and position she wants them."

This new information was quite a revelation for Schnee. For someone who was supposed to have a mental disorder, Ivory appeared very detail oriented and organized, two important traits to running the Schnee Dust Company. Perhaps it wasn't too late to salvage his plan.

The next morning before Schnee headed to work and Ivory started her therapy, Schnee decided to have a talk with Ivory.

"Good morning, papa!" said Ivory.

"Ivory, can we talk for a moment?" asked Schnee.

"About what, papa?"

"Ivory, how would you like to attend my next business meeting?"

"Your meeting? But I thought you took Weiss with you."

"Yes, but I think you should get a turn to see what my meetings are like as well. We'll go at the end of the week, okay?"

"Okay, papa."

With Schnee taking Ivory to his workplace, his new plan was put into motion. Ivory's new routine would consist of seeing the therapist three times a week, with the other days spent accompanying Schnee to the Schnee Dust Company and the occasional activity to break up the monotony. Ivory gets her therapy in and learns the business first-hand from Schnee himself. His plan to make Ivory his heiress was back on track.

#

Whenever Weiss and Ivory had some downtime from their homeschooling or extracurricular activities, Weiss would take the time to play with Ivory. Ever since Ivory was adopted into the family, Weiss was always asking Winter about tips on how to be a great older sister. Even though Ivory was essentially cut off from the outside world - it didn't help they were in danger of the White Fang's assassination attempts - Winter was comforted knowing she had Weiss to play with.

One afternoon, Weiss was playing with Ivory and her Pyrrha doll. Since Ivory started her art therapy a couple of months ago, she started creating this new game where Pyrrha would go on fantasy adventures, slaying monsters and rescuing people. Ivory of course always took the role of Pyrrha while Weiss pretended to be whatever monster Ivory came up with for the day.

"What monster will attempt to slay Pyrrha now?" asked Weiss.

"Look out!" said Ivory, holding up one of the drawings in her sketchpad for Weiss. "It's the dreaded Dogger!"

"Dogger" was what Ivory called one of her many drawings of monsters. Dogger looked like an undead timber wolf in medieval Atlesian armor; it resembled an old Atlas mythological creature, only it was a wolf instead of a person. Many of Ivory's drawings was taking random objects or mythical creatures and combining them with whatever animal came to her mind. Her sketchbook resembled one of those TV shows they would market as children's toys. It was all weird to Schnee, but he didn't care much about what Ivory drew if it kept her from having meltdowns.

"You won't get past me, Pyrrha Nikos!" said Weiss playing as Dogger. "I'm going to eat you alive!"

"You won't defeat me!" said Ivory playing as Pyrrha. "I'm going to throw my spear at you!"

Ivory pretended to have the doll throw a spear.

"Mwa ha ha!" said Weiss. "I'll knock your puny spear away with my axe!"

"No!" yelled Ivory, breaking character. "That's not what Dogger would do!"

"Why not?"

"Dogger is too slow to hit Pyrrha's spear! The spear would go right through him!"

"Fine, the spear goes right through him. Oh no, I've been defeated by Pyrrha!"

"No!" yelled Ivory again. "Dogger is a zombie! You're not doing it right!"

"It's just pretend, Ivory!" yelled Weiss. "Stop making such a big deal out of it!"

"YOU'RE RUINING IT!" yelled Ivory, throwing her doll down and rolling on the floor. Before Ivory can start screaming her head off, Schnee and Winter quickly came into their room.

"What's going on?" asked Schnee.

"Papa!" said Ivory. "Weiss is ruining my work!"

"I was not!" yelled Weiss.

"Yes you were!"

"That's enough!" said Schnee. "Weiss, I want you in my office now!"

While Winter pulled Ivory aside to calm her down, Schnee took Weiss to her office and scolded her for upsetting Ivory. After things had settled down, Ivory went to play with her other toys while Weiss stomped back to her room, clearly upset that she was the one who got in trouble instead of Ivory. Now Winter had to take off her mother hat and put on the big sister hat. Winter went into Weiss' room; Weiss buried her face in her pillow trying to contain her rage. Winter took a seat at the edge of Weiss' bed.

"What do you want?" said Weiss.

"Father gave you quite a scolding, didn't he?" said Winter.

"It's not fair! Ivory was the one who started arguing and throwing a fit, but father blames me for it! What did I do wrong, Winter?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Weiss. Father is just worried about Ivory's health. You have to remember Ivory doesn't think the same way we do."

"It feels like father cares more about Ivory than us, and we're his actual family! So why is he acting like we're the black sheep of the family?"

This would usually be the part where Winter would have to assure Weiss that their father loved all of them equally, but that was clearly a lie as Winter knew why their father had grown more attached to Ivory than either of them. So instead, Winter tried to think of how Weiss could fall back in their father's favor.

"Well Weiss, if you really feel that way, try showing more interest in what father does. Attend the meetings with him, or ask him how our company is going. After all, it's likely you're going to be the one to inherit the Schnee Dust Company when he steps down."

Weiss turned over to face Winter. Winter thought that mentioning Weiss being the heiress would cheer her up, but instead she looked uncomfortable at the prospect.

"Winter...can you keep a secret?"

"What kind of secret?"

"The kind you absolutely cannot tell father about."

"You can trust me, Weiss. I'm pretty good at keeping secrets."

"To be honest...I'm not sure I want to inherit father's company. I've seen the reports put out against us. Our family is looked down upon because of our father's unethical business practices. It's almost like being a Schnee is a curse."

"I understand. So, what will you do instead?"

"If I tell you, do you promise to not tell our father?"

"You have my word."

Weiss sat up next to Winter and took a deep breath. "Well...I want to be a huntress!"

Winter didn't mind that she had to keep yet another secret to herself, but when Weiss told her that she wanted to be a huntress, she felt torn. Had Weiss stated nearly any other kind of profession, she would feel relieved.

"You realize how dangerous of a job being a huntress is, right?"

"I know, but I think I can be good at it. I've been secretly practicing my glyphs and I'm starting to get the hang of it. All I need is the right training."

"But even then, the academy here has all the huntresses join Atlas' military."

"That's why I want to travel to another kingdom. I was thinking of joining Beacon Academy in Vale. I've read that they are one of the most prestigious huntsman academies in the world. What do you think?"

"I...well..."

Winter didn't know what to say. On the one hand, she was happy for Weiss deciding to follow in her own footsteps rather than be stuck under her father's shadow. On the other hand, she wanted to take part in a profession where the pay can range from okay to miserable, not to mention the high risk of meeting their maker.

"You think it's a horrible idea, don't you?"

"Not at all! Weiss, if you think you can succeed at it, then do it!"

"You mean it?"

"Definitely. The reason I joined the military was because I wanted to become my own person with my own goals. I wasn't going to have my life defined by my last name either."

"Then why did you hesitate a moment ago?"

"Because I'm worried. Weiss, if you choose to leave this place and become a huntress, there may be no turning back. Our father isn't exactly the forgiving type."

"I'm not so sure. Father used to say things about how you were never coming back, but you came back anyway! I'm sure he would forgive me eventually...right?"

"I guess you're right."

It was true that their father did take Winter back into their home, but it wasn't simply an act of forgiveness. It was because Winter had a child that was now essentially under Schnee's control. Had Ivory never been conceived, Winter doubt their father would ever let her step foot in this manor again. Winter leaned over and gave her sister a hug.

"Just remember, if things don't work out the way you thought they would, I'm here to support you as well."

Weiss smiled and hugged her sister. "I know you are."

#

"This is VNN Headline News, I'm Lisa Lavender. Today's top story: An executive board member for the Schnee Dust Company was assassinated last night. The assassination occurred during a rally to commemorate the opening of a new offshore Dust rig, carried out by the White Fang. This attack has been the latest in a series caused by the White Fang over the past week. Many citizens are expressing concern over the rise of these violent attacks. Some have taken to leading retaliation riots against various Faunus owned businesses in the kingdom."

The Vale huntsmen were watching the report on their airship as they arrived at Atlas Academy. Ironwood had called Ozpin to discuss a partnership in dealing with the White Fang for an upcoming mission handed to him by Schnee. Ozpin, Goodwitch, and Qrow went to the headmaster's office where Ironwood and Winter were waiting.

"Good to see you Ozpin and Glynda," greeted Ironwood. "And Qrow! I'm surprised to see you here."

"Only because Ozzy insisted I show up," said Qrow. Qrow turned his attention to his arch-nemesis standing by Ironwood's side.

"Why hello there, ice queen. Still giving me the cold shoulder I see."

"Hello," replied Winter. Ironwood could tell by Winter's voice she was already getting annoyed and uncomfortable being around Qrow, so he immediately cut to the chase to end the meeting as quickly as possible.

"As you know," explained Ironwood, "the White Fang have been getting more aggressive lately. Now they've gone from disruptive protests to outright terror attacks. In a few days, the Schnee Dust Company is going to export a large cargo of Dust to Vale, and it's likely if not certain the White Fang will attack. Schnee has already assigned my special operatives to protect the cargo, but because of the scope of this task, I ask for Vale to provide additional support."

"How much support are you looking for?" asked Ozpin.

"My operatives should be fine by themselves on the ship. What we'll need is huntsmen guarding the port when we arrive to ensure the cargo gets to where it needs to go. Additionally, the huntsmen need to be of certain qualifications."

"Translation," said Qrow, "no Faunus allowed!"

"Is this true, Ironwood?" asked Ozpin.

"Ozpin, you know I have no racial bias against the Faunus," said Ironwood. "However, with tensions high between the SDC and the White Fang, some 'lone wolves' could go off on their own-"

"I'm not a racist but!" interrupted Qrow.

"As obnoxious as this fool is acting," said Goodwitch, "I have to agree. Discrimination of any kind is inexcusable."

"I agree," said Ozpin. "If we are to accept this partnership, I will assign huntsmen based on talent and discipline alone."

"Forget it!" said Winter. "We're not going to jeopardize this mission because you want to virtue signal how tolerant you are!"

"You heard the racist ice queen," said Qrow. "We're done here. Can I go home now?"

"Knock it off, Qrow!" said Goodwitch.

"Calm down, Winter," said Ironwood. "If Ozpin wants to have Faunus huntsmen help us, then so be it. Just remember Ozpin; if something were to happen in Vale because of your need for tolerance, the blame is going to fall squarely on you."

"I assure you nothing will go wrong," said Ozpin.

The two headmasters shook hands and took out the paperwork to finalize the details of the partnership. As Ozpin, Goodwitch, and Ironwood discussed the terms of agreement, Qrow got up to chat with Winter.

"For the record, I don't care what happens to your family's precious cargo," said Qrow. "You Schnees brought this White Fang nonsense on yourself."

"Qrow, do you care about anyone but yourself?" asked Winter.

"Of course I do. I'm a huntsman; it's my job."

"Then why don't you do your job and help with the assignment?"

"Because this isn't a hunter's mission, it's mercenary work. If your family wants mercenaries, go build some more of those robots putting us huntsmen out of a job."

"Those 'robots' are helping save more lives, including people like you! You're welcome!"

"What happened to you, ice queen? I remember when you wanted to distance yourself from your father at any costs. Now you're under his beck and call to protect a company you wanted no part of. What happened to the Winter who swore they would be nothing like their father?"

 _"I have a child now. I need to support her. I need to get her out of my father's hands. I need to let her real father know she exists. I need to tell you so badly."_

"She grew up!" replied Winter.

"Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

The headmasters finished their paperwork and said their farewells. After the Vale huntsmen left, Winter sat down and tried to prevent herself from breaking down.

"God dammit!" yelled Winter.

"I'm sorry Miss Schnee," said Ironwood. "From now on I'll make sure to inform Ozpin not to have Qrow appear in our meetings. On the bright side, he still doesn't know about Ivory."

"Easy for you to say! You're not the one who has to burden this secret!"

"You weren't thinking of actually telling him, were you? That would end your agreement with your father! Besides, even if you did tell him, do you really think that idiot would make for a responsible parent?"

"How would you know what kind of parent he'd really be?"

"I've known Qrow since his early days as a huntsman in training. Trust me, you're lucky he doesn't know about Ivory."

As loyal as Winter was to Ironwood, she couldn't bring herself to believe his judgment of Qrow. Winter knew that Qrow was sometimes careless and annoying, but it wasn't right to assume he wasn't fit to be a father.

#

Later that night, Winter reported to her father about the mission, making sure to leave out the part about Ozpin's refusal to not hire Faunus. With the partnership settled, Winter was to spend the next few days at the military base getting everything ready, meaning she would be away from Ivory for a while. She went into Ivory's room where she was reading a book with her Pyrrha doll while wearing her comfort blanket. Winter had given Ivory a red comfort blanket to help calm her down during her tantrums. Ivory started carrying that blanket wherever she went, tying it around her waist like Pyrrha's sash.

"Enjoying your story, Ivory?" asked Winter.

"Hello, Winter!" said Ivory. "Are you going to read me a bedtime story?"

"Ivory, I came to tell you something important. I'm going to be away for a few days to help papa with a big assignment."

"How big?"

"REALLY big! So, I need you to make sure you stay on your best behavior while I'm gone. Promise?"

"I promise!"

"I'm glad." Winter kissed Ivory on the forehead and tucked her in. "Good night, Ivory."

"Winter?"

"What is it?"

"Are you my mommy?"

Winter suddenly felt a chill go down her spine and her heart suddenly stop. Her mind started racing about why Ivory was asking that. There was no possible way she could know, unless somehow Ivory was able to figure it out on her own, and if she did, why suddenly ask her now of all times.

"What...what do you mean?" asked Winter.

"Papa said you found me after my mommy and daddy were killed by the White Fang. That would mean you adopted me, right? Does that make you my new mommy?"

Winter breathed a huge sigh of relief, knowing the crisis was easily avoided.

"No Ivory, it doesn't work like that. I may have found you, but papa filled out the paperwork indicating you're his daughter, and I'm your older sister."

"Winter?"

"Yes, Ivory?"

"Do you think you'll ever be a real mommy?"

"Someday I will."

As soon as Winter got back to her room, she broke down and cried. The more years that passed by of having to keep this secret, the worse Winter felt being unable to raise her child the way she intended. There was only one way out of this hell she was going through.

Winter grabbed her scroll and pulled up Qrow's contact information. All she had to do was call him. Tell him he had a daughter, tell him about their situation, and then he can come and take them away to live a better life, or at least a life where Ivory could finally be with her real parents.

But then she remembered how much Qrow didn't want to have a family of his own. Qrow being a huntsman also didn't help, since there was always that likelihood of him suddenly dying on the job, and that would leave Winter and her daughter with nothing to support themselves.

Winter shut down her scroll and tossed it aside. She had to keep up this lie for Ivory's sake.

#

The years appeared to get easier for the Schnee family. Ivory was settled in her routine and was shaping up the way Schnee intended, Weiss had finished her preliminary training and was now studying at Beacon Academy, and Winter was a full-fledged special operative. Everything appeared to be in perfect order, except for the fact that Winter still had to keep Ivory's origins a secret, and the older Ivory got, the more it hurt Winter physically and mentally.

It was a few weeks before the Vytal Festival was about to begin. Early in the morning, an underground train crashed into the main city and released a horde of Grimm. Thankfully, the Atlas military was there to quickly eradicate the threat before any fatalities could occur. For his performance, Ironwood was promoted to secure Vale during the Festival, which was rumored to be delayed in order to tighten security measures. Word got out that the train crash was caused by the White Fang, further driving racial tensions between the citizens.

With Ironwood's promotion, Winter was now going to be assigned to overlook the new security measures in Vale. The plan was to have her stationed there for approximately one month. Winter was looking out the window of her airship as they were approaching over the Vale kingdom. The skyline was filled with the Atlas military ships while the streets were patrolled by the AK-200s, giving the people below a sense of protection.

Winter's train of thought was interrupted when she heard something fall on the floor. She looked down and noticed it was the Pyrrha doll. She turned to her side and saw that Ivory had fallen asleep in her chair. Winter picked up the doll and placed it back in Ivory's hand, then untied the comfort blanket wrapped around Ivory and placed it over her. Seeing Ivory sleep soundly made Winter smile.

When Winter found out she would be away from Atlas for a month, she couldn't stand the thought of being separated from Ivory for that long, and tried to convince her father to take Ivory along.

#

 _Earlier that day_

"I want to take Ivory with me," said Winter.

"And what makes you think I would approve of that idea?" asked Schnee.

"I think this outing can be educational for Ivory. She can learn how Vale conducts business compared to Atlas."

"She can do that from the safety of the mansion."

Every time Winter wanted to take Ivory anywhere, Schnee has always turned her down, insisting Ivory stay in the mansion at all times. Schnee claims it was to protect Ivory at all costs, but Winter thought her father was taking it too far.

"I'm not going to have Ivory spend her whole life in this mansion!" said Winter. "She needs to experience the outside world at some point!"

"And have her at risk of being killed by the White Fang? You've seen what those monsters have done lately!"

"Nothing will happen to Ivory! I, along with Ironwood and the entire military, will make sure of that!"

"...very well. Ivory may stay with you for your duration in Vale. But if I find out you break any part of our established agreement, don't bother coming back."

Ivory's belongings were quickly packed up and ready to go. Ivory was worried about going on the trip, seeing how she never traveled anywhere that wasn't owned by the Schnee family. She was going to be seeing so many unfamiliar people and things and possibly eat foods she never had before. Everything was going to be so new to her, she already felt overwhelmed about leaving. She stayed in her room with her blanket and Pyrrha doll until Winter came to pick her up.

"It's time to go Ivory," said Winter.

"Do I really have to go?" said Ivory.

"There's nothing to worry about, Ivory. I promise you're going to have fun!"

"But I can have fun here!"

Winter went up to Ivory and bent down to look at her face to face.

"I know you're scared of breaking your routine," said Winter, "but when you get older, you're going to learn that you can't do the same thing every day your whole life. Some days you're going to be in places and situations that are out of your comfort zone. You think father ran such a successful company by staying in his comfort zone the whole time?"

"Papa did say you need to take risks to succeed in business."

"Exactly! I'll tell you what; how about the first thing we do in Vale is see Weiss?"

"You mean it? We'll get to visit Weiss first?"

"Absolutely! Now, ready to go?"

Ivory grabbed Winter's hand and headed to the limo waiting outside. For the first time in years, Winter felt truly happy. She was going to have a whole month with Ivory just to herself, with no interference from her father.

She was finally going to get her chance to be a real mother.


	3. Chance Meetings

**A/N: Before anyone asks, Volume 4 does not exist in this divergent canon story (and neither does Volume 3 for the most part). Weiss and Winter are the only two Schnee siblings.**

* * *

Team RWBY were in their dorm resting, having come back from their morning training for the tournament. With Team JNPR not scheduled to come back from their pre-festival mission until late in the day and Zwei returning home, Ruby was bored from having nothing to do. She would usually walk around the city to find something to do, but most of the stores were in repairs after the Grimm attack, and it felt awkward to wander the city with those robots walking around.

"I'm boooored," moaned Ruby, hanging upside down from the side of her bed. "Someone give me something fun to do."

"If you need something to do," said Weiss, "start studying about the other teams registered for the tournament."

"I said something FUN!"

"Why not read a book?" said Blake, tossing Ruby one of her books.

"Not in the mood for reading," said Ruby, tossing the book back.

"How about getting some crayons and coloring?" said Yang.

"Yang, I'm a young adult, not a five-year-old!"

"You certainly fooled me," said Weiss.

"You guys are mean!" pouted Ruby.

"Maybe instead of complaining about having nothing to do, you can-"

Weiss was suddenly interrupted by her scroll ringing. Weiss checked to see who would be calling her now, and was surprised to see it was from Winter.

"Who is it?" asked Ruby.

"It's my sister!" said Weiss, answering her scroll.

"Sister?"

"Hello, Winter! ...I'm doing just fine. ...really? Today? How wonderful! ...Ivory too? Are you sure she'll be okay? I mean, I wouldn't want her to...okay, whatever you say! See you then!"

Weiss hung up and suddenly looked like she was walking on air.

"My sisters are coming to visit Beacon!"

"You have sisters?" asked Ruby. "What are they like?"

"Hope they're not as cold as you are," joked Yang.

"My older sister is a special operative working for Ironwood. My other sister is...well..."

Weiss looked uncomfortable talking about her other sister. She didn't like to talk about Ivory due to her mental disability, as she was afraid of having to answer a lot of questions she either didn't know the answer to or wasn't comfortable sharing with other people.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"When are they coming to visit?" asked Ruby.

"My sister said she should be arriving near academy grounds in about thirty minutes."

"Nice! Let's all go over and greet them!"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not? It finally gives me something to do!"

"My little sister is really shy around new people, and meeting three new people right away might scare her."

"But I'm not scary! I mean Blake and Yang might be scary, but certainly not me!"

"And just WHAT is so scary about me, sis?" said Yang, feeling somewhat peeved by that comment.

"I simply can't imagine," said Blake sarcastically.

"Look," said Weiss, "my little sister is...different, and I'm not sure if she's going to react in a positive way."

"C'mon Weiss," said Ruby, "let us see your sisters pleeeeease?" Ruby folded her hands and started giving Weiss the puppy-dog look.

"Fine!" said Weiss. "Just PLEASE try to act normal around them, okay?"

"Promise!"

Team RWBY left their dorm and headed to the port Winter's ship would be landing on. While Ruby and Yang were secretly discussing what Weiss' sisters might be like, Blake was interested to know about this mysterious third sibling of the Schnee family. Having done espionage work for the White Fang in the past, Blake was aware of the Schnee family tree. She knew about Winter, Weiss, and their father Jacques, but she knew almost nothing about Ivory. She heard about the Schnees having a third child, but that child was so reclusive, hardly anything was known about her. With the way Weiss wanted to avoid her team meeting Ivory, something was definitely up.

#

Winter's airship arrived at Beacon Academy. As soon as Winter and Ivory got out of their seats, Ivory clutched Winter's hand tight while holding on to her Pyrrha doll; she was still nervous about who and what she was going to see when they got off the ship.

"You promise the first thing we're going to do is see Weiss?" asked Ivory.

"I promise," said Winter. "In fact, Weiss should be outside this ship ready to say hi."

Winter and Ivory boarded off the ship with their robotic bodyguards and stepped foot on academy grounds. As expected, Weiss was there waiting to say hi. However, she was also surrounded by a group of girls who were curious to see Winter step foot on the ground. The one in the black and red dress seemed especially excited to see them. Weiss and the others immediately ran up to greet Winter; Ivory tried to hide behind Winter's leg.

"Hello Winter!" said Weiss. "It's good to see you again."

"Hello Weiss," said Winter. "It's good to see you too. And...you brought company."

"Hi!" said Ruby. "I'm Ruby! It's great to finally meet you!"

"Oh yes, Ruby Rose. You're Weiss' partner. You are certainly...a person."

Winter was already turned off by Ruby's overenthusiasm, and couldn't believe how such a young energetic girl was chosen to be leader over Weiss. Then again, Winter always believed Beacon to be more laxed in their standards of leadership and quality of huntsmen. It wasn't any surprise when the councils turned to Ironwood and the Atlas military to handle the security for the Vytal Festival.

"Thank you!" said Ruby. "I am most certainly...a person. These are my teammates, Yang and Blake!"

Yang also waved enthusiastically, while Blake just stood there with her arms crossed.

"Well Weiss," said Winter, "you've certainly made some...unique friends."

"So," said Ruby, "is that the little sister I've heard about?"

Ruby tried to walk up and get a better look at Ivory. Ivory tried to move away from Ruby and clung to Winter's leg. Weiss grabbed Ruby by her arm and pulled her away.

"What are you doing, you dolt?" muttered Weiss.

"I'm just trying to say hi!" said Ruby.

"Ivory has a little trouble talking to new people," said Winter. "You'll have to introduce yourselves properly before she start's talking."

"Oh, okay!" Ruby cleared her throat and folded her arms as she bent forward. "Hello Ivory, I'm Ruby Rose! A pleasure to meet you!"

Ruby tried to put on a big smile, hoping that would ease Ivory's fears. Ivory still hid behind Winter, not sure what to do.

"Go on Ivory," said Winter. "Say hello."

Ivory let go of Winter and clung tightly to her Pyrrha doll as she stepped forward, finally giving Team RWBY a better look at Ivory. Right away they noticed how different she looked from the other Schnee sisters with her red eyes and black highlights.

"Hello Ruby," said Ivory, doing a curtsy with her dress. "I'm Ivory Schnee."

"Nice to meet you!" said Ruby. "These are my other teammates!"

"I'm Blake Belladonna," said Blake, giving a small wave of her hand.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long!" said Yang, walking up to Ivory to shake her hand. Ivory looked up and down her body, then started groaning like something was bothering her.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Your legs!" said Ivory.

"My legs?" Yang looked down at her legs, but nothing appeared wrong with them. "What about my legs?"

"Your socks aren't the same height! And you're wearing that scarf!"

"What are you, a little fashionista?"

"You're not symmetric!"

"Suh-what?"

Ivory suddenly went up to Yang and tried to pull up the sock that was hanging over her boot.

"Hey!" said Yang, pushing Ivory off. "You just can't grab people like that, little girl!"

"But you're not symmetric!" yelled Ivory. Weiss knew when Ivory started raising her voice, it usually led to one of her tantrums, and quickly tried to diffuse the situation.

"Yang, please fix your socks," said Weiss.

"Are you serious?" asked Yang.

"Yes!"

Yang rolled her eyes and pulled up her other sock so they were now at matching height. Weiss pointed to the scarf around her leg; Yang grumbled how ridiculous this was as she took off her leg scarf and stuffed it in her pocket.

"I apologize," said Winter. "Ivory isn't trying to do this to annoy you."

"Then why?" asked Yang.

"Ivory has Asperger's syndrome. She's very serious about things having to be symmetrical."

"Papa says symmetry is very important," said Ivory. "A lady or gentleman can't be proper if they aren't dressed symmetrical. That's why papa doesn't like Weiss very much."

"Oh really?" said Yang, intrigued by the Weiss family dilemma.

"My father and I have had some...disagreements before I came here," said Weiss. "That's all you need to know."

"Papa isn't happy that Weiss hasn't called back," said Ivory. "That's why he's canceling her credit card."

"He's WHAT?"

"Ivory, let's not discuss family issues in front of Weiss' teammates, okay?" said Winter.

"But it's true!" said Ivory.

"Whether it's true or not," said Ruby, "sometimes there are things you shouldn't share with other people, especially about private family matters."

"Papa says the only people who have something to hide are criminals," said Ivory, "like those filthy Faunus in the White Fang."

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang can feel a chill run down their spine on Ivory suddenly spurting out such a racist remark in front of Blake. Thankfully, Blake kept her cool and didn't react. Blake wasn't surprised a Schnee who likely didn't get out much would say such a thing.

"I apologize," said Winter. "Unfortunately, part of Ivory's mental disability is she can't understand the concept of socially acceptable behavior. She'll always say what's on her mind whether it's appropriate."

"Always says what's on her mind, huh?" said Yang. "Remind you of anybody, Ruby?"

"Does it ever," said Ruby.

Ruby noticed Ivory holding on to something in her other hand; it was a doll of their famous next door neighbor.

"Hey Ivory, are you a fan of Pyrrha?"

"Yes," said Ivory. "Weiss and I loved watching Pyrrha's fights on TV."

"Well, did you know Pyrrha Nikos goes to this school, and just happens to be our dorm neighbor?"

Ivory's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning.

"Really? Is this true, Weiss?"

"It sure is," said Weiss. "In fact, her team should be coming back from their pre-festival mission today. I know she would love to meet you!"

Ivory was now super excited. Meeting Pyrrha Nikos herself was like a dream come true.

"Winter, I want to go meet Pyrrha!" said Ivory.

"Once we settle down in our hotel room, we'll go see her," said Winter.

"But I want to see her now!"

"Ivory, I swear we'll go once I'm done with my meeting and we unpack!"

"But that'll take forever!"

"I have a suggestion!" said Ruby. "If you're busy, why don't we just take Ivory with us? She can stay in our dorm! We wouldn't mind having her crash with us, would we guys?"

"I'd love to!" said Weiss.

"I'm fine either way," said Blake.

"I protest this decision!" said Yang.

"I'm not sure about this, Weiss," said Winter. "You know we have Ivory on a strict schedule. Are you sure your team can handle having her around?"

"It won't be a problem at all," said Weiss.

"All right then. Ivory, looks like you'll be spending the day with Weiss and her friends."

"And Pyrrha!" said Ivory.

"Give us a few moments."

Winter pulled Ivory aside to talk to her privately. Even though Weiss was aware of Ivory's habits, she was worried Weiss was not fully prepared with how to deal with Ivory's meltdowns, especially when she had those bizarre teammates of hers that might cause one. Still, it was better for Ivory to do a bit of exploring instead of being locked up in their hotel room under watch.

"Ivory, I need you on your best behavior. Don't cause too much trouble for Weiss and her teammates, and whatever you do, do not ever leave Weiss' side, okay?"

"Yes, Winter."

"I'll see you later tonight."

Winter kissed Ivory on the forehead and handed her to Weiss, along with one of Ivory's suitcases.

"Her art supplies are in this suitcase. Make sure she doesn't lose her doll or her blanket."

"Of course," said Weiss.

Winter went to the Beacon clock tower where Ozpin and the others would be waiting, waving goodbye to Ivory one last time.

"Weiss, I'm hungry!" said Ivory.

"I guess this calls for lunch," said Weiss. "Unfortunately, it appears I'll be a bit low on funds for a while."

"Then let's head to the cafeteria!" said Ruby. "It's cheeseburger Friday! Do you like cheeseburgers, Ivory?"

"I don't know what a cheeseburger is," said Ivory.

"Then be prepared to have the greatest meal of your life!"

"It couldn't be any better than the meals our chefs make at home."

"We'll see about that! To the cafeteria!"

As Ruby lead the way for her team and their special guest, Yang walked by Weiss to talk about Ivory.

"If you didn't tell me that Ivory was your sister," said Yang, "I could have sworn she was your older sister's kid."

"My sister was always very attached to Ivory," said Weiss. "I think she sees Ivory as a daughter of sorts ever since she found her."

"Found her? So, Ivory's adopted?"

"It's a long story."

#

Winter arrived in Ozpin's office where Ozpin, Goodwitch, and Ironwood were waiting.

"Good afternoon Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch," said Winter.

"A pleasure to see you again, Miss Schnee," said Ozpin. "Ironwood was telling me about your accomplishments since you've become his top SO."

"Never expect anything less than the best from Schnee," said Ironwood.

"Thank you, sir," said Winter. "Shall we begin our meeting?"

"We're still waiting for one more person to arrive," said Ozpin.

"This person wouldn't happen to be Qrow, would it?"

"Afraid so," said Goodwitch. "I know he can be a pain in the rear, but he is a valuable member of our group."

"That's your opinion," said Ironwood. "Quite frankly, we'd all be better off without him."

The elevator doors suddenly opened and in walked Qrow, carrying something behind his back.

"Speak of the devil. You're late, Qrow!"

"Sorry about that," said Qrow. "I was on my way here from the bar when some talking trash can kept hounding me for my ID."

"A talking trash can. Drunk as usual, I see."

"I'm serious! Here, I'll show you!"

Qrow pulled out a disembodied head from an AK-200 behind his back and tossed it to the floor, pissing off Ironwood.

"You just destroyed Atlas Military property!" yelled Ironwood.

"Your point being?" asked Qrow.

"I can have you court martialed for this!"

"In my defense, I had two perfectly good reasons for defending myself!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," said Qrow. He put up both of his hands and counted using only his middle fingers. "One, and two!"

"You worthless son of a-"

"Enough!" yelled Goodwitch. "The two of you are acting like children!"

"I'm sorry mommy!" said Qrow, putting on a sad face. Goodwitch can already feel a migraine coming from Qrow's antics.

"Seriously, does he need to be here?" asked Ironwood.

"I'm here in case Ozpin needs medical assistance," said Qrow. "You know, from that giant knife you plunged into his back!"

"I'm not the one who allowed Vale to be attacked by scoundrels!"

"No, but you were the one who threw Ozpin under the bus like a no good motherfu-"

"Qrow, please!" said Ozpin. "What's done is done. Let's focus on why we're here."

Qrow folded his arms and turned his head so he wouldn't have to look at Ironwood. Winter noticed he was almost facing towards her direction and turned herself around to make sure she didn't see Qrow. Just having him in her sights made her feel uneasy with having to keep Ivory a secret.

"Now, we know the ones who infiltrated Beacon's systems are in alignment with the White Fang. However, we strongly believe the White Fang could act independently from this faction, if the train incident is any indication. We need to gather more info on what the White Fang could be up to as the Vytal Festival draws closer."

"I assure you, everything will be under control," said Ironwood. "Miss Schnee will make sure this city is thoroughly protected and root out any traces of White Fang scum hiding in the shadows."

"I doubt that," said Qrow. "How is anybody supposed to trust your men Jimmy when the White Fang were spotted using YOUR tech you wanted to show off to the world?"

"A grave oversight, likely because somebody was too laxed to keep a better eye on Vale."

"You just love twisting that knife, don't you Jimmy?"

"Previous incidents aside," said Winter, "we know what we're doing! I'll have this city safe and secure for the Vytal Festival!"

"You're in way over your head, ice queen. You're not even aware of the greater danger at stake!"

"What are you babbling about?"

"Miss Schnee," said Ironwood, "the four of us have to discuss some other matters. Please step out for a moment."

"Whatever these matters are, I see no reason for me to-"

"That's an order, Miss Schnee!"

Winter didn't understand what was so important that she couldn't be part of the discussion, but if it was none of her business, then she wouldn't press it any further.

"Yes sir!" said Winter, stepping into the elevator and leaving the room.

"As for this greater danger, Qrow," said Ironwood, "the Atlas military is ready to handle such a threat."

"You don't even know where they're hiding!"

"We have our theories."

"Well here's a hint: They're in this school."

"So the ones after the Fall Maiden have already infiltrated Beacon?" asked Goodwitch.

"Glad to see somebody catch on!" said Qrow. "So Ironwood, are you going to start forcing the students to carry IDs around? Random seizures? How about good old fashioned waterboarding?"

"Being a bit extreme there, don't you think?" asked Ironwood.

"You want to see extreme?" Qrow picked up the robot head and held it up to Ironwood's face. "These things are all over the God damn city! I can't go a block without these things staring at me and demanding my identification! You've turned Vale into a God damn police state! You honestly think any of this is going to prevent the White Fang or this secret faction from attacking the city?"

"Whatever is necessary to protect these people!"

Qrow brushed off Ironwood and turned to Ozpin. "You're really going to let him do this?"

"The council has made their stance clear," said Ozpin. "There's nothing I can do now but make sure the Fall Maiden remains safe."

"Well then, since Atlas is in charge of everything, why the fuck am I even here? If anybody needs me, I'll be out drinking!"

Qrow dropped the head back to the ground and left Ozpin's office. Along the way out of the clock tower he came across Winter; Winter tried to avert her gaze from Qrow.

"Must feel pretty proud getting to lead this little operation," said Qrow.

"Very," replied Winter.

"Because if there's any family that knows about keeping the peace, it's the one who creates conflict with the Faunus."

"I'm simply doing my job, and not as a Schnee, but as a protector for the citizens of Vale! Whether as huntsmen or specialists, we all have the same goals in mind, do we not?"

"Well, when you put it that way...you're right. As much as I don't like you or Jimmy Backstabber, and would love to see you two fall flat on your face, it won't do the people of Vale any good. Hope everything goes smoothly for you, ice queen."

After Qrow left the clock tower, Winter entered the elevator to head back to Ozpin's office. It was stressful enough she had a big responsibility for the upcoming Vytal Festival, but she also had to endure Qrow's company, knowing that the daughter he could never find out about was right under his nose. As risky as it was to have Ivory come to Vale, it was all worth it to Winter if she could finally spend the quality time she always wanted with Ivory.

Winter took a deep breath to compose herself before the elevator opened and she returned to the meeting.

"Are you okay, Miss Schnee?" asked Ozpin. "You seem to have something on your mind."

"Just a bit concerned about...well, I guess everything," said Winter.

"You have no need to concern yourself. I know you'll have everything ready to make sure Vale remains safe."

"Thank you, Professor Ozpin."

#

Team RWBY were in the cafeteria having lunch. Knowing Ivory's eating habits, Weiss made sure to get a burger with nothing but the meat and bread so she wouldn't waste so much time trying to separate everything. For a while Ivory just sat there looking at her separated burger; Ruby was starting to think Ivory had no idea how to eat a burger.

"Having trouble there, Ivory?" asked Ruby.

"Ivory is fine," said Weiss. "This is just the way she eats everything."

Ivory picked up the two pieces of bread and placed them in her right hand, then started making flapping motions between them.

"Look Weiss!" said Ivory. "I have a bread mouth!"

"That's cute, Ivory," said Weiss. Weiss knew it was pointless to make Ivory stop as that would just lead to a temper tantrum, so she watched as Ivory pretended to keep talking with her bun hand.

"Hello, Ruby!" said Ivory. "My name is Rye N. Wheat!"

"Oh oh!" said Ruby. "Weiss, give me your burger!"

"Why?" asked Weiss.

"Just give it to me!"

"Fine," said Weiss, handing Ruby her food. She didn't like burgers in the first place. Ruby took apart the bun and tried to grip it in one hand like Ivory.

"Hello Mister Wheat, my name is...uh...Pump R. Nickel!"

"Hello Mister Nickel!" said Ivory. "How are you today?"

"I'm feeling great to say the yeast!"

"Ha ha ha!" said Yang. "Good one, sis!"

Weiss groaned at such a terrible joke, but was enjoying seeing Ivory having fun with Ruby. It helped that her partner had the personality of a nine-year-old herself.

As Ruby and Ivory were having fun with their buns, the cafeteria was getting crowded as the afternoon rush was starting to file in. Ivory looked around and suddenly felt uneasy with such a large number of people around her. The noise of the crowd was pulling Ivory's concentration in all directions at once. Feeling uncomfortable from everyone around her, Ivory suddenly grabbed her Pyrrha doll and went under the table, trying to block out the noise.

"Ivory, what's wrong?" asked Ruby.

"It's too noisy!" said Ivory. "I can't think!"

"I was afraid of this," said Weiss. "Ivory can't stand large crowds. We need to go."

"But we were just having fun!" said Ruby.

"Trust me, if we don't leave now, Ivory is going to have a meltdown. C'mon Ivory, let's go to our dorm."

Ivory got out from under the table and held Weiss' hand, leaving the cafeteria as quickly as possible with the rest of the team. Ivory was so distracted from the noises that she didn't realize she had dropped her Pyrrha doll under the table.

#

The downtown industrial district in the city of Vale was widely regarded as a ghost town of sorts. Abandoned warehouses and businesses littered most of the section, making it a perfect hideaway for the criminal underground to gather in secret. Such was the case with the White Fang, whose new location was somewhere in the area since their cover in Mountain Glenn was blown.

As ordered by Cinder, Neo headed to the coordinates given to her. She arrived at a dilapidated building with three red scratch marks spray-painted on the boarded-up window, indicating she was at the right place. Neo knocked on the door and was greeted by the White Fang Lieutenant through the peephole.

"What's the password?" asked the Lieutenant. Neo frowned at the Lieutenant; he knew full well Neo couldn't say a word.

"Sorry, no trespassers allowed."

The Lieutenant slid the peephole shut. Having little patience for his nonsense, Neo knocked on the door again. This time when the Lieutenant answered, Neo brandished her sword and took aim for the Lieutenant's eyes.

"Hey! Relax you little psycho, I'm just messing with you!"

The Lieutenant opened the door and escorted Neo into the basement where their leader was awaiting. Along the way, Neo can hear the Lieutenant mumbling to himself about Neo being a "little human freak." The man was lucky he had a mask on, or else Neo would have ripped his tongue out right then and there.

In the basement stood Adam and some White Fang soldiers, looking over the map of New Vale City, marking down all the places the Atlas Military were heavily stationed.

"Hey Adam, that woman's little crony is here," said the Lieutenant.

"About time," said Adam. "I assume Cinder made you aware that you are to follow my orders?"

Neo nodded. As per the agreement, Neo was to help Adam and the White Fang with anything they needed. It was also a way for Cinder to keep tabs on them in case they tried to double-cross her.

"So what's the plan, sir?"

"I spoke to Cinder earlier. She says we are to remain idle until she gives the signal during the Vytal Festival."

"Are you saying we have to stand around doing nothing until that woman says so?"

"That was her orders. However, I'm the one leading this group, not her or that worthless mutt Torchwick. We're going to take action on our own."

"Now that's what I want to hear! What did you have in mind?"

"Our intel indicates that Atlas' top special operative, Winter Schnee, is in town to overlook the city's security."

"Great! Another chance to kill a Schnee! When do we strike?"

"Be patient, Lieutenant. As much as I'd love to have Schnee killed ASAP, we have to remember Atlas has its military policing the city 24/7, and from what I've gathered, Winter is no amateur student like the ones who interfered at Mountain Glenn. We need to wait for the opportune moment to present itself. In the meantime, continue to lay low and keep gathering Grimm as Cinder ordered."

"Yes sir, Adam."

"As for you human, make yourself useful and gather the Grimm."

The Lieutenant left to continue his work; Neo remained in the room with Adam, looking dissatisfied with Adam. Neo knew if the White Fang did anything without Cinder's approval, Cinder's master plan would be ruined, and if Cinder didn't get her way, she was going to make everyone suffer for it. Neo would be damned if her and Torchwick would be casualties because of some stupid Faunus freedom fighter.

"Got something to say?" asked Adam.

Since Adam couldn't understand Neo as well as Torchwick could, Neo took out her scroll and quickly wrote out a message for Adam to read.

"Cinder is going to kill you when she finds out about this," said Neo via the text.

"Planning to squeal, human? I know Cinder sent you here to make sure I remain obedient. Quite frankly, I don't see why we shouldn't get rid of you the same way we did that idiot Torchwick."

Neo was getting mad that Adam was constantly badmouthing Torchwick. She gripped her umbrella handle ready to take out her sword, only for Adam to suddenly brandish his katana and press the tip of his blade at the throat of Neo before she can even blink.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, human. If I find out you told Cinder about our plan, I will hunt down and kill you."

Neo sheathed her sword and held her hands up, backing out of the room. As powerful as Adam was, Neo wasn't scared to fight him or any other White Fang member she had to put up with. The only thing preventing Neo from killing any of these mongrels was wanting to avoid Cinder's wrath if she caused this alliance to fall through. Neo was going to do what she did best and remain silent, letting everything play out as intended for now.

#

"Welcome to the official Team RWBY dorm!" said Ruby, showing Ivory around the room. Ivory was perplexed at the sight of the beds being stacked on top of each other, especially with how shoddy and amateurish they were built.

"Why are the beds like this?" asked Ivory.

"They're bunk beds! Cool, huh?"

"These are what bunk beds are like? They look terrible! Weiss, why did you want these so much?"

"Trust me Ivory," said Weiss, "real bunk beds look a lot better than this. Still, they are surprisingly sturdy and they give us more room to walk around."

"So Ivory," said Ruby, "what do you want to play now?"

"According to the time, Ivory has to have her art therapy now."

"Art therapy?"

"Ivory has a very active imagination, which as fun as it is, becomes a distraction when not contained. We have her let out her creativity through drawing."

"Ooh, what kind of drawing?"

"Sketches mostly," said Ivory. Ivory opened her bag and took out her art supplies. She had a wide array of pencils and erasers along with several sketchpads. Ruby picked up one of the sketchbooks and was surprised to see the drawings in them. They looked way too good to be done for someone Ivory's age.

"Whoa! You drew all of these, Ivory? They look awesome!"

"Let me see," said Yang. Yang picked up another sketchpad and was impressed by the different kinds of fantasy creatures Ivory loved drawing. "Wow. These things remind me of those shows we used to watch as kids."

"OH NO!" yelled Ivory, frantically going through her suitcase.

"Ivory, what's wrong?" asked Weiss.

"I can't find Pyrrha! She's gone!"

"Pyrrha?" said Ruby. "Oh, you mean your Pyrrha doll."

"I need Pyrrha!" said Ivory. "I can't draw without her help!"

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere!" said Weiss. "We just need to look!"

Weiss and Blake began searching all over the room for the missing doll. With her doll missing, Ivory unwrapped her comfort blanket around her waist and balled up into a corner of the room, crying that she was missing her favorite doll.

"Calm down Ivory!" said Ruby. "We'll find your doll!"

Ruby put her hand on Ivory's shoulder to help reassure her, but Ivory kept crying and was on the verge of having a total meltdown.

"Say Ivory, let's play a game! How about hide and go seek? Or how about a video game?"

"No!" yelled Ivory. "I want Pyrrha!"

"Ivory," said Yang, "if you stop crying, I'll take you out for ice cream!"

"I WANT PYRRHA!" yelled Ivory even louder.

"Listen you dunces!" said Weiss. "Ivory isn't going to stop until we find that doll! Hurry up and search!"

The girls kept searching to no avail while Ivory kept crying and getting worse. Suddenly, there was a knock on their door, which couldn't be happening at a worse time.

"What now?" asked Weiss. Weiss opened the door and was surprised to see it was Team JNPR, returning from their mission. Team JNPR were excited to come back until they heard chaos erupting in their neighbor's dorm.

"Um, hey," said Jaune, worried about why there was a lot of yelling coming from inside. "We just came back a few minutes ago and wanted to say hi and...did we come back at a bad time?"

"Actually, you came at the perfect time!"

Weiss suddenly grabbed Pyrrha by the hand and took her inside their dorm.

"Ivory, look who came to visit you!" said Weiss. Being a celebrity who dealt with anxious young fans, Pyrrha was familiar with this kind of situation.

"Hello!" said Pyrrha. The moment she heard her voice, Ivory looked up and gasped. She could hardly believe who was standing right there in front of her.

"It's you!" said Ivory. "It's really you! Pyrrha Nikos!"

Ivory stood up and gave Pyrrha a hug as the rest of Team JNPR walked in.

"Oh, who's the little one?" asked Nora.

"Everyone," said Weiss, "meet my little sister, Ivory."

"Little sister, huh?" said Pyrrha. "You must look up to Weiss a lot."

"Not really," said Ivory. "She's not my real sister anyway."

"Excuse me?"

"Ivory was adopted into our family," explained Weiss, "and as you can see, she's very upfront about her thoughts. She's also a very big fan of you, Pyrrha."

"Well Ivory, it's always an honor to meet my youngest fans."

"I've watched your tournament matches on TV!" said Ivory. "I think you're one of the best heroes in the world, but papa thinks you're overrated."

"I've heard many criticisms," said Pyrrha, "but I never let it get to me."

"When Ruby said you were a student here, I couldn't believe it! Someone as strong as you must be the leader of their team!"

"Actually, my team has a different leader."

"Hello!" said Jaune, holding out his hand. "Jaune Arc, pleasure to meet you."

"What?" said Ivory, disappointed to hear that Pyrrha wasn't leader. "You're...not the leader of your team?"

"That's right," said Pyrrha.

"Wow. If neither you nor Weiss are the leaders of your respective teams, then this school is really as terrible as papa always told me."

"Now Ivory, that really isn't a fair assumption. Our headmaster had his reasons for making the teams the way he did."

"But you're Pyrrha Nikos! How can a wimpy looking boy like him be picked over you?"

"Beats me," said Weiss. Everybody but Pyrrha and Ivory turned to Weiss with a stern look on their face.

"Jaune may not look like an experienced fighter," said Pyrrha, "but you should never judge a book by its cover. Jaune is quite talented in other areas and I'm proud to have him as team leader."

"What do you mean by judging book covers?" asked Ivory.

"It means you can't assume something about someone you meet just based on what you see. Do you understand?"

"I understand! I'm kind of the same way. People assume a lot about me because of my disability. So, if you say Jaune is a good leader, then he must be!"

"Thank you, Ivory. It was nice meeting you, but we have to get back to our dorm."

"Wait! I have a lot of things I want to ask you!"

"Ivory, Pyrrha just got back from an important mission," said Weiss. "I think she would rather rest before answering your questions."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," said Pyrrha. "What would you like to know?"

"How did you get to be on Pumpkin Pete?" asked Ivory.

"Well, it's quite a long story."

Ivory followed Pyrrha and the rest of Team JNPR back to their dorm. Weiss felt bad for making Pyrrha babysit after arriving back to Beacon so soon, but it did buy Weiss some time to find that doll before Ivory had a meltdown.

"We've searched the whole room twice over," said Blake. "I think Ivory must have lost her doll before she came into our room."

"She probably left it somewhere in the cafeteria," said Weiss. "I'll go search for it."

"Before you go, I need to ask you something. You say Ivory's real parents were killed by the White Fang shortly after she was born?"

"That's what my sister told me."

"I see. I'll be in the library."

Blake and Weiss split paths to their respective destinations. Before heading to the library, Blake grabbed a personal journal she kept with her since her days in the White Fang. Something about Ivory's supposed origins were bugging her, and she needed to see if a theory she had brewing in her mind was true.

Along the way to the library, Blake came across an older looking huntsman walking down the hallway. He seemed old enough to be one of the professors in the school, but Blake had never seen him before. He wore a grey coat and a red cape sort of like Ruby's.

"Excuse me," said Qrow. "Is this where Team RWBY's dorm is?"

"Make a right over there, first door on the left," said Blake. "Mind if I ask who you are?"

"Just a visiting relative. Thanks."


	4. A Dusty Old Qrow

Qrow was not in a good mood after leaving the clock tower. He was hardly ever in a good mood after having to be around Ironwood and Winter. Luckily in just a couple of hours, the bars around Vale would open and he'd be in a much better mood, as long as he didn't have to meet another Atlas garbage can.

Qrow was walking around the campus, looking at all the young huntsmen and huntresses that were going to be Vale's future protectors, or at least that's what he was hoping. He remembered watching the pundits on the news praising Ironwood and his machines for saving Vale from the Grimm attack instead of the huntsmen who risked their necks. It seemed more and more every day, people were putting more faith in Atlas technology than actual warriors. "But less humans have to die!" the pundits would say to justify the robots taking over their jobs. Qrow didn't care how many people like him would be "saved" from their job being done by machines; it wasn't worth having to stare at these monstrosities when he walked the streets. Besides, what would happen if Atlas suddenly decided they needed to take control of the world, or if their weapons fell into the wrong hands, which caused the Grimm attack in Vale in the first place?

All these thoughts about Atlas and robots and backstabbing assholes was really pissing Qrow off. He needed to get his mind off this crap somehow.

 _"It has been a while since I last saw the kids,"_ thought Qrow. _"While I'm here, I might as well see what they're up to."_

It always warmed Qrow's heart to see his nieces. He could talk to Ruby for hours on all the modifications she wanted to make to her weapon, or talk to Yang about all the different ways to kick a man's ass. The last time he saw them was just before they headed to Beacon. He wasn't surprised when he found out Ruby was transferring from his school to Ozpin's. Ruby was definitely like her mother: The passion, the drive, the skills, and as Ruby got older, the looks. The looks were probably the one thing Qrow hated about Ruby growing older. Not that Summer wasn't beautiful, but the more Ruby looked like Summer, the more he had those other thoughts; the thoughts he needed to convince himself to stop thinking of.

Qrow headed to the building where the freshmen dorms were and asked the first huntress he came across for information.

"Excuse me," said Qrow. "Is this where Team RWBY's dorm is?"

"Make a right over there, first door on the left," said Blake. "Mind if I ask who you are?"

"Just a visiting relative. Thanks."

Qrow walked down the hallway and stopped at the first door on the left. He quietly opened the door and saw Ruby and Yang battle it out in a game of Kung Fu Ninja Ultimate Slayer Death Battle 2. Ruby thought she had Yang beat until Yang pulled off an amazing comeback and won.

"Darn it!" said Ruby, throwing down her scroll. "How are you always able to parry like that?"

"What can I say?" said Yang. "I am a master in the art of fighting! My fatal fury triumphs over all! That's why I'm the queen of fighters!"

"Tough talk for someone who can never beat me," said a gruff voice from behind. Ruby recognized that voice anywhere; she turned around and gasped at seeing her uncle making a surprise visit.

"UNCLE QROW!" yelled Ruby, immediately getting up and wrapping herself around Qrow's arm. "It's great to see you! Did you miss me?"

"Nope!" joked Qrow, ruffling Ruby's hair.

"Long time no see, Uncle Qrow," said Yang. "What brings you to Beacon?"

"Had to talk with Ozpin about some things," said Qrow. "Heard you girls have been busy here at Beacon."

"It has been a busy couple of semesters," said Ruby. "The exams, the big dance, the training for the Vytal Festival..."

"Secretly fighting crime?"

"Oh, so...you know about that."

"Pretty cool, huh?" said Yang. "Not even done with freshman year and we're already heroes!"

"A couple of missions and you're already way over your head," said Qrow. "You two have a long way to go before you can earn a title like that."

"Then what would you call us for saving the city from the Grimm attack?"

"Lucky."

"Ooooh," moaned Ruby. "Way to downplay our accomplishments."

"With that said, Ozpin did have some good things to tell me about you guys. Speaking of, where are the other two members of your team?"

"Blake just left to go to the library, and Weiss needed to step out for a moment."

"Weiss? As in...Weiss Schnee?"

"Yeah! You know her?"

"Not really. I do know the rest of her family though. Not exactly the best people I've met. Tell me, does Weiss act like a cold hearted...uh...jerk?"

"She sort of did for a while, but I think she's really warmed up to us. I'd probably even consider her my best friend."

"That's good to hear. Maybe she'll be the one Schnee I find tolerable."

"Is Weiss' family really as bad as they say?"

"I can tell you all sorts of stories about them, but I'll save that for another day. So, what's life been like at Beacon so far?"

"Where do I begin!"

Ruby went on to talk about everything going on at Beacon, from the classes to the students to the cafeteria food and everything in between.

#

Meanwhile, in the Team JNPR dorm, Ivory was still asking every question she can think of to ask Pyrrha. Ivory was so enthralled to meet Pyrrha, she can talk to her for literally the entire day. The other teammates were worried that Ivory was actually going to do that, even though Pyrrha didn't appear to mind, or at least was polite enough to not send Ivory back across the hall. Thankfully for them, Weiss showed up with Ivory's lost doll.

"Ivory, I found your doll," said Weiss. "Time to go back to our dorm."

"But I want to keep talking to Pyrrha!" said Ivory.

"Don't worry, Ivory," said Pyrrha. "I'm not going anywhere. You can come back and see me anytime, okay?"

"You promise?"

Pyrrha bent down and held her forearm up, a signature handshake for warriors of Mistral.

"Warrior's promise!"

"Warrior's promise!" replied Ivory, crossing her forearm with Pyrrha's. Weiss took Ivory's hand and escorted her back to their dorm.

Ruby was watching her uncle taking Yang to school in their fighting game when Weiss opened the door and held the Pyrrha doll high in the air.

"Crisis averted!" announced Weiss.

"Oh thank goodness!" said Ruby. "So everything should be fine now, right?"

"As long as we don't trigger another meltdown."

As Ivory returned to the dorm, she noticed someone new was in the room. Qrow turned around and noticed Ivory, causing Ivory to try to hide behind Weiss.

"What's wrong, Ivory?" asked Weiss. Ivory pointed to the man looking at her.

"Hey now," said Qrow, "I'm not that scary looking, am I?"

"Ruby, who is this man and why is he in our room?"

"That's our Uncle Qrow!" said Ruby. "Uncle Qrow, this is my teammate, Weiss!"

"Nice to meet you, little ice queen," said Qrow. "Or should I say ice princess?"

"Just WEISS or MISS SCHNEE will suffice!" said Weiss.

"So who's the even littler one?"

Qrow leaned over to get a better look at Ivory, causing Ivory to move around Weiss to hide herself.

"Hey kid, I'm not going to bite. You could at least say hi."

"Uncle Qrow, Ivory is really shy around new people," said Ruby. "You need to introduce yourself."

"All right then. Hello Ivory, my name is Qrow."

"Qrow...what?" asked Ivory.

"Just Qrow is fine."

"I need to know your last name!"

"Uh...okay. Branwen; Qrow Branwen. That good enough for you?"

"Weiss, he's scaring me!" said Ivory, gripping Weiss' dress tight.

"Don't be afraid, Ivory," said Weiss. "He's just an oaf. Go ahead and introduce yourself."

Ivory slowly let go of Weiss and walked up to Qrow, greeting Qrow with her usual curtsy.

"Hello. I'm...Ivory Schnee."

"You're a Schnee?" asked Qrow. "Don't remember ever seeing you before. Cousin from out of town?"

"I'm Weiss and Winter's adopted sister."

"Really? Since when did the Schnee family start adopting kids?"

"Ivory was a special circumstance," said Weiss.

"My older sister Winter took me in when I was a baby," said Ivory. "My real parents were killed by those disgusting White Fang Faunus."

"Yep, she sounds like a Schnee all right," said Qrow. "Though I'm surprised to hear the ice queen being such a humanitarian."

"What's an ice queen?"

"A derogatory term I would wish he'd stop using!" said Weiss.

"'Ice queen' is the least offensive thing I could call you Schnees," said Qrow. "If you knew half the crap your father's company has done-"

"OH KAY!" interrupted Ruby. "I think we should talk about something else! Ivory, Uncle Qrow here is a veteran huntsman! Don't you think that's cool?"

"Not really," said Ivory. "Papa says huntsmen are idiots who couldn't get good grades in school."

"Is that so?" asked Yang, pausing her game and suddenly becoming very interested in what Ivory had to say. "Kid, you are aware that your sister is training to be a huntress and you're saying that in a room full of them?"

"I know. Papa usually remarks what a big mistake Weiss made coming here."

"That's enough, Ivory!" said Weiss.

"No no," said Qrow. "I want to hear more what 'papa' has to say about huntsmen."

"Papa says huntsmen are just low income mercenaries who know how to swing a sword," said Ivory, "but don't know how to read."

Ruby's left eye began to twitch as she tried to contain her rage over Ivory's remarks; Yang herself was about a second away from getting up and smacking Ivory for being so disrespectful; Weiss noticed the look on her teammates' faces and was planning to grab Ivory and run.

Qrow on the other hand started to laugh, surprising the other huntresses in the room.

"I like this kid!" said Qrow.

"But Uncle Qrow!" said Ruby. "All that stuff she said about being a huntress!"

"I'm just telling the truth!" said Ivory.

"Just because father says so doesn't make it true!" said Weiss.

"But papa says that's why huntsmen don't make a lot of money. Do you make a lot of money, Mister Qrow?"

"This kid slays me!" said Qrow, laughing almost to the point of tears.

"Uncle Qrow, why are you just laughing this all off?" asked Ruby. "Are you hearing what she's saying about us?"

"Like I haven't heard all that before? Most people I talk to that shit on my line of work are usually the drunks who think they could beat me in a fight. But this kid...I like this kid. Surrounded by four experienced huntsmen and she has the courage to talk like that."

Qrow suddenly stopped laughing and went back to looking serious.

"But seriously kid, don't try pulling that in front of strangers. There's a lot of men out there who wouldn't think twice about slitting your throat for talking like that."

"Slit my throat?" asked Ivory, sounding scared of what Qrow was implying.

"I think we've gotten to know each other pretty well!" said Weiss. "Ivory, let's get out your drawing materials and start your art therapy."

"Okay!"

Ruby and Yang went back to playing their video game while Ivory and Weiss organized all of Ivory's art supplies on one of their desks. As Ivory was placing everything where she wanted it, Qrow grabbed one of her sketchpads to skim through her previous works.

"So you like drawing, huh?" asked Qrow.

"I like it very much," said Ivory. "It lets me be as creative as I want to be."

"I can tell. This is damn good for a kid your age, although I can't help but notice you make everything an animal. Guess it's just a weird artist thing, like that guy who makes everything into squares."

Ivory looked at the blank piece of paper in front of her. For a minute Ivory just stared at the paper and looked as if she was getting stressed.

"What's wrong, Ivory?" asked Weiss.

"I'm trying to think of what I want to draw," said Ivory, "but I can't come up with anything!"

"How about you make a picture of me?" asked Qrow.

"You want me to draw you?"

"Yeah. I want to see what weird self-portrait you come up with."

"Okay, but you have to follow my instructions."

"You're the boss."

Ivory stood up and held her arms out sideways.

"Stand like this and do a full 360 degree turn, slowly."

"No problem," said Qrow, holding out his arms and turning slowly.

"Again, the other way."

"Sure." Qrow span around the other way. Ruby turned to see Qrow spinning around and couldn't help but giggle.

"Can I see your weapon, Mister Qrow?"

"You might want to stand back for this one."

Qrow picked up his sword he left in the corner of the room and held it up for Ivory.

"Right now, it's a greatsword with two shotgun barrels, but then I can turn it into this."

Qrow activated the mechanisms of his sword. Ivory watched carefully as the handle on Qrow's greatsword expanded and the blades separated to form a scythe.

"Your weapon can transform into a scythe?" asked Ivory.

"What better weapon to kill the Grimm with than the symbol of death itself?" asked Qrow.

Ivory looked down on the ground and started tapping her foot as her head filled up with all the details she came up with for her new creation.

"Yes! Now I know what I want to draw!"

Ivory sat back down, immediately grabbed a pencil and started to make an outline of what she was going to draw. As she was drawing, she mumbled to herself about the step by step process she was taking.

"So this is how you draw, huh?" asked Qrow.

"I need silence!" suddenly yelled Ivory.

"Ivory can't draw with people talking to her or being too close," said Weiss. "We have to give her space for about an hour."

Qrow backed away from Ivory as she continued to draw at her rapid pace and talked to herself about all the details of her drawing.

 _"Artists,"_ thought Qrow. _"Always the crazy ones."_

#

Winter was on board Ironwood's airship, serving as the central command base for Atlas' military. Her and Ironwood were going over the layout of the city and mapping out the locations where the AK-200s would be patrolling, as well as determining the arrival and departure times of all airships going through Vale's airspace. They also had to make sure that all weapons and Dust were accounted for, as the last thing they needed was another slip-up that lead to the recent Grimm attack.

"It appears everything is complete," said Ironwood. "Now, how should we go about securing the stadium?"

"A stadium full of huntsmen is bound to have a spy or two amongst them," said Winter, "not to mention who may be hiding from within the crowd. I suggest we have our own men assigned to the stadium to ID anyone appearing suspicious. The AK-200s can handle the fairgrounds."

"Excellent plan, Miss Schnee."

"Thank you, sir!"

"By the way Miss Schnee, I heard from your father you brought Ivory to Vale with you. Are you sure that was a wise decision, given the circumstances?"

"Vale may not be completely safe at the moment, but I was not going to spend such a long time away from my daughter."

"I'm more worried that you-know-who is going to find out about her."

"Even if Qrow were to somehow meet Ivory, that doesn't mean he's going to find out he's the father."

"And if he does find out, what will you do then?"

Winter turned away and went silent. Winter didn't want to think what would happen if Qrow learned the truth, even if Winter did want to tell Qrow. She wanted this next month to be about spending time with Ivory, not worrying about Qrow and her father.

"My apologies, Miss Schnee. I'm only trying to look out for you and your daughter's best interests."

"I understand sir, and I appreciate your help."

"Right now, we have everything under control. Why don't you leave now and spend some time with Ivory? I'll contact you if anything important comes up."

"Thank you, sir!"

Winter saluted the General and left to pick up Ivory.

#

After about half an hour of working on her drawing, Ivory was officially done with her sketch of Qrow.

"I'm finished!" announced Ivory. "Everybody come look!"

Everyone in the dorm turned to Ivory as she held up her creation. Ivory drew a portrait of Qrow holding up his scythe to attack; she perfectly copied his clothes and his weapon, and like all her other creations, she replaced Qrow's head and body with an animal. Appropriately enough, the animal she chose was a crow.

"HA!" said Ruby. "You turned Uncle Qrow into a literal crow!"

"What do you think?" asked Ivory. "Is it good?"

Qrow took the sketchpad to get a closer look at his anthropomorphic self.

"So you think this is what I would look like if I were an actual crow?" asked Qrow.

"I think it looks cool!" said Ruby. "Wouldn't it be awesome if you can actually turn into a crow?"

Qrow suddenly started snickering about Ruby's comment.

"What's so funny?" asked Ivory. "Do you not like it?"

"No, I like it!" said Qrow. "It just reminds me of something personally funny. So, does this cool crow have a name?"

"Murdo!"

"Murdo? How'd you come up with that?"

"Murdo is a play off the word 'murder,' which has two meanings: the act of killing someone, and the term for a group of crows. Murdo is a veteran warrior whose specialty weapon his is scythe. Murdo is a cold-blooded mercenary for hire, who only does what he's paid to do, whether it's good or evil."

"Wow, Ivory!" said Ruby. "You just created him and you've already come up with his life story!"

"Do you do that with all the drawings you create?" asked Qrow.

"I'm very detailed oriented," said Ivory.

"So I see. You've pretty much nailed my clothes perfectly. How did a girl your age get so good with details?"

"It's part of my mental disability."

Qrow had to pause for a moment to make sure he didn't suddenly misheard what she said.

"I'm sorry...did you say mental disability? Since when is being detail oriented a disability?"

"I have Asperger's syndrome."

"Wait, is that one of those autism disorders?"

"Yes. While technically I would be considered disabled, I also have a better sense of remembering details than most children my age."

"You know what they say!" said Ruby. "You're not disabled, you're handicapable!"

"There's no such word as handicapable. Whoever 'they' are must be illiterate."

"She's also quite good at grammar," said Weiss.

"Whatever you want to call it," said Qrow, "I have some mind-blowing news for you kid."

"What news?" asked Ivory.

"You're not mentally disabled."

The room suddenly went quiet, as everyone was stunned silent by Qrow's sudden remark about Ivory.

"I'm not?" asked Ivory.

"No, you're not," said Qrow. "Whoever diagnosed you with this disorder is lying."

"How dare you!" said Weiss, taking great offense to Qrow's remarks. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"I'm sorry, do you like your sister being mentally unstable?"

"That's not the point! You're not a professional practitioner of medicine! You have no say in what my sister has!"

"Newsflash, ice queen junior! Those 'pro practitioners' you rely on so much? They'll try to pin anything on mental disabilities. Like keeping things organized? It's OCD! Get bored in class too easily? It's ADHD! You know why they make this shit up? Because it means more money they get to earn."

"Oh yeah, mister medical expert? Since apparently, you know so much about mental disorders, explain Ivory's symptoms! Why does she get extremely shy around new people, or has the urge to separate her food by each individual ingredient?"

"Simple: She's a KID! Kids have weird habits all the damn time. Give it a couple of years and she'll be over it."

"Stop it!" said Ivory, starting to get upset. "I do have a mental disability! It isn't a joke!"

"Kid, I have seen people with mental disorders, and trust me when I say it, you don't have one."

"But I do! It's real!"

Ivory was starting to breathe loudly as she was crying. The girls knew it was a sign that she was about to have a meltdown.

"Hey kid, relax," said Qrow. "No need to cry like a baby over it."

"Uncle Qrow," said Ruby, "don't you think you should say sorry?"

"Why? I didn't do anything wrong."

"You're upsetting my sister!" said Weiss.

"Then that's your sister's problem."

"It's about to be all of our problem, Uncle Qrow!" said Yang. "Just apologize to the kid already!"

"I'm not apologizing. She could cry and yell all she wants, but the fact is, she doesn't have that aspy crap."

"YES. I. DO!"

Ivory threw herself to the floor and flailed her limbs on the ground, crying and screaming. Weiss tried to give Ivory the Pyrrha doll and her blanket to calm down, but it wasn't enough. Ruby and Yang were panicking about what to do, while Qrow sighed and rubbed his forehead as Ivory's screaming was giving him a headache.

"Shit like this is why I'm so glad I'm not a father," said Qrow.

Just outside Team RWBY's dorm, Winter had arrived to take Ivory back to their hotel. She could hear Ivory screaming from the hallway, and immediately ran into the room to find out what had happened. She nearly felt her heart jump out of her chest when the first person she saw was Qrow.

"YOU!" said Winter. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit my relatives in peace," said Qrow, "but as usual, the Schnees find a way to fuck my life."

"What happened to Ivory?"

"This buffoon is making fun of her disability!" said Weiss.

"You WHAT?"

"Well I can tell this is about to turn into a Taijitu court," said Qrow. "I'm out of here."

Qrow got up and walked out of the room. Before Winter can confront Qrow, she went over to check on Ivory. Having Winter present was enough to get Ivory to stop screaming, but she was still crying and sniveling.

"Ivory, calm down!" said Winter. "I want you to tell me exactly what he said to you!"

While the Schnee sisters were consoling Ivory, Ruby ran out of the room to catch up to Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow, don't you think you were being a little mean in there?" asked Ruby.

"I'm not mean, Ruby," said Qrow. "I'm just truthful."

"You did kind of come off as mean. In fact, you...well...you sort of maybe sounded...like a bully."

"Bully is the least he sounded!" yelled Winter, entering the hallway with Weiss.

"If I were a bully," said Qrow, "I would have made a mockery of her so-called disability."

"Ivory does have a disability, and you are going to go in there and apologize to her NOW!"

"You really think she's disabled? Do you realize how many kids get labeled 'autistic' these days over the pettiest bullshit?"

"People like you are all the same!" said Weiss. "You're nothing but a Neanderthal stuck in a stone age mindset!"

"Typical teenager mindset. You grow some pubes on your privates and suddenly you think you know how the real world works."

"Who do you think you are talking to her like that?" yelled Winter.

"Who am I? Let me tell you who I am!"

Qrow got up to Winter's face so they were nearly touching each other's foreheads, looking like he was about to start a fight.

"I'm the guy who has seen shit that would make you piss your fucking pants! I'm the guy risking his life so you spoiled ice queens can sleep soundly at night! I'm the guy fighting monsters and wrecking his body while you push pencils behind your legion of soldiers, miss Special Operative!"

"That still doesn't give you the right to talk down to Ivory! You have no idea what she has to suffer through!"

"Really now? Tell me, does her suffering involve getting flashbacks of people she's lost? Does she wake up at night with the feeling of a dagger ripping through her chest?"

Qrow backed away one step so he can take out his flask and drink a quick swig.

"Call me when she starts to have actual trauma."

Qrow turned around and stormed off. Weiss was so livid at the way Qrow spoke to them, she got out her weapon and was about to attack Qrow. Winter quickly grabbed Weiss and held her back, letting Qrow leave.

"It's not worth it, Weiss," said Winter. "He's just being a bitter old drunk."

"I'm really sorry!" said Ruby, bowing in front of Winter.

"Is your uncle always like this?" asked Weiss.

"Uncle Qrow does have his moments, but I swear deep down he's not such a jerk."

"I think you're lucky he's just your uncle. God forbid that man ever has children."

"Hey now, Uncle Qrow isn't that bad! He just has a pessimistic view of things."

"I don't mind the pessimism, but the way he talked to Ivory was inexcusable."

"Again, I'm sorry! Winter, if there's anything I can do to make this up to you-"

"You have no need to be sorry, Ruby," said Winter. "Quite frankly, I'm not surprised by your uncle's behavior. I have known him for quite a long time. The man was never one to pretend how he felt, regardless of who he was talking to."

"I still think he's an awful human being," said Weiss. "I'm going to check on Ivory."

Ruby and Weiss went back to the dorm to check on Ivory. Winter was very upset by Qrow's actions. It was one thing when he mouthed off to her, Ironwood, or even Weiss, but Ivory was only a child. It was especially disheartening considering he was talking to a child he didn't realize was his. Winter usually defended Qrow from the baseless accusations others would make of him being a terrible father, but after the way he talked to Ivory, it was hard to make a case otherwise. Then again, as far as Qrow knew, Ivory was just another Schnee for him to dislike, just like how he disliked the entire Schnee family. Winter wondered if Qrow knew the truth about Ivory, would he react the way he did?

Outside of the dorm building, Qrow was now in an even worse mood than he was when he left the clock tower. All that talk about mental disabilities and dealing with children was getting him to think about Summer, and whenever he started to have those thoughts, he took out his flask. He drank every drop he had remaining to calm himself down.

"Yep," said Qrow. "Glad I never had kids."

#

Later that night, Winter was unpacking her and Ivory's belongings in their hotel room. Ivory wasn't comfortable leaving the hotel room for dinner, so tonight they would be ordering room service. It worked out for Winter anyway, as she was too stressed from today's events to go out into the public. As Winter was organizing their belongings, Ivory went up to her to ask a question.

"Winter, do I really have a mental disability?" asked Ivory.

"Yes you do," said Winter, "and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"

"How come that man wouldn't believe me?"

"Because he's ignorant, Ivory. Papa was the same way when you were first diagnosed."

"But papa accepted my disability!"

"Papa is a different man. He doesn't truly think you're disabled, but he knows better than to hurt your feelings. Qrow on the other hand is just a pessimistic drunk who doesn't care how others feel."

As Winter put away the last of their clothes, Winter turned around and saw Ivory trying to wrap her blanket around her neck.

"What are you doing with your blanket?" asked Winter.

"Weiss' friend Ruby wears a cape," said Ivory, "so I wanted to put on a cape too. How do I look?"

Ivory turned around and posed with her cape blanket. The cape was meant to look like Ruby's, but when Winter looked at Ivory, she couldn't help but think of Qrow. The way Ivory smiled with her bright red eyes, she was a spitting image of her father. Winter smiled and gave Ivory a hug.

"I think you look adorable," said Winter.

#

During Ivory's stay in Team RWBY's dorm, Blake was in the library researching Ivory's origins. Blake had placed post-its in her journal of all the White Fang activities she was aware of from nine years ago and searched through every archive of Mistral news taking place around that time. She also searched the Atlas news archives that mentioned the Schnee family adopting a girl into the family, mentioning the White Fang as the ones who killed the little girl's parents. Blake found no stories in Mistral that matched up to Atlas' timeline. There was also nothing in Blake's journal that matched what Weiss was claiming happened.

 _"I couldn't have overlooked something the White Fang had done,"_ thought Blake. _"I've always made sure to keep track of every single event involving the White Fang. Weiss says everything she knows came from her sister, and her sister was in Mistral when it happened, yet there's no news from any Mistral publication that matches her story. There's only one explanation that fits this narrative: Ivory's parents weren't killed by the White Fang. So then why would the Schnees decide to adopt a child and claim that the parents are dead? Do they know who Ivory's real parents are?"_


	5. Secrets and Lies

With the sun going down and most of Vale's inhabitants going to bed, Qrow entered a bar known as the "Get Yer Goat," which was owned by a Faunus. With the racial tensions between humans and Faunus running high, the bar was only occupied by a handful of Faunus, which worked out in Qrow's favor, as the less people that were around, the easier it was to get the information he needed. He went straight to the bar and sat right in front of the bartender, a Faunus with ram horns and a long goatee.

"Good evening, barkeep," said Qrow. "Slow night for business I see."

"Yeah, but what can you do?" said the barkeep. "Nice to see a human here though."

"Faunus or human, I just like to enjoy a good drink. Have anything special?"

"Just got a new batch of sake straight from Mistral."

"Really? Never knew any Vale bars that carried that stuff. I'll have a glass."

"Have to warn you pal, that stuff is mighty expensive. Gonna run you twenty-five a glass."

"Won't be a problem. In fact, I'll pay double to help you through these slow nights."

Qrow pulled out a fifty-lien card and placed it in front of the barkeep. The barkeep quickly poured Qrow his glass.

"And perhaps you can be a little bit generous in return?" asked Qrow.

"I knew there had to be a catch," said the barkeep. "You're a huntsman, aren't you? What do you want from me?"

"Where are the White Fang?"

"What makes you think I would know anything about that?"

"A bar run by a Faunus is sure to attract a Faunus majority customer base, and some of those customers are bound to talk about the White Fang."

"I hear a lot of things, but White Fang activity isn't one of them."

"You know what? I get it. Since you've been so gracious to me..." Qrow reached into his pocket and pulled out another fifty-lien card and placed it on the table.

"Look, even if I told you what I knew, I don't think it's going to be that much help."

"Any little bit helps."

The barkeep looked around to make sure the other patrons weren't paying attention, then leaned down to talk to Qrow privately.

"The only people that might know where the White Fang relocated are the ones who truly have a connection with the criminal underground. What I can tell you though is that the White Fang have sleeper agents all over this city; Faunus who appear to be normal law-abiding citizens, but are really scouting the area for intel."

"Figures. Would you happen to know any agents?"

"I don't have proof, but you heard about the book store owner near the shopping district? He was planning to flee to Vacuo to run away from the White Fang, but word is he got done in before he got the chance. Now the store is under new management. Get where I'm going with this?"

"So the White Fang thinks you're either with them or against them, huh?"

Qrow reached into his wallet and this time pulled out a couple of 100 lien cards to hand over to the barkeep.

"You'll probably want to do the same. This should cover a ticket at least."

"I appreciate your concern," said the barkeep, sliding the cards back to Qrow, "but I'm not going to let some radicals drive me into hiding."

"God bless you, man."

"Same to you, good sir."

Qrow chugged down his sake and left the bar, getting all the info he needed.

#

After the dramatic day Team RWBY had dealing with Ivory, the team was thankful there were no classes they needed to get up for and were happily looking forward to sleeping in, except for Weiss, who was already up and dressed as the others were just starting to wake up.

"Uh oh," said Ruby. "Was today supposed to be training day?"

"Not today," said Weiss. "My sister and I are going to take Ivory around Vale. I'll probably be out for most of the day."

"Can I come too? I feel really bad about the way my uncle acted, so I figure I can make it up to Ivory if I come."

"Well, Ivory does seem to like you a lot, so I guess it should be okay."

"I'll be ready in one minute!" Ruby quickly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

"Are any of you planning to come along too?"

"Nah," said Yang. "I need to catch up on my sleep."

"I'd rather not," said Blake. "Considering what Ivory said about the Faunus, my presence would probably just cause trouble."

"I know Ivory said some nasty things," said Weiss, "but my dad has sheltered Ivory from the real world for just about her whole life. He's made her think all Faunus are part of the White Fang. It doesn't help that the White Fang were the ones responsible for Ivory's parents as well."

"I understand. You were honestly the same way when we first met, but I'm sure she'll come around like you did."

"Thank you."

"Done!" shouted Ruby, already dressed and ready to go. "And in only fifty-four seconds!"

Ruby and Weiss headed to Winter's hotel. Yang was about to go back to sleep until Blake came up to her bunk and was prodding her shoulder. Yang moaned and sat up.

"What gives, Blake?" asked Yang.

"Yang, did Winter or Weiss say anything else about Ivory yesterday while I was away?"

"Why? Getting suspicious about something?"

"I don't think Ivory is who they say she is."

"What do you mean?"

"Weiss said Ivory's parents were killed by the White Fang in Mistral, so Winter adopted her. A White Fang attack would surely make some kind of news, right?"

"Of course. A horrible murder like that would probably make front page."

"Well, I looked into nearly every news story published around the time of the attack and found nothing. Not one article in any Mistral news source was ever published talking about anything White Fang related."

"Do you think maybe the news kept it secret because it was the White Fang?"

"I had that theory as well, so I also checked my personal journal."

Blake pulled out her journal and handed it to Yang. Yang skimmed through the pages looking at all the notes Blake made about the White Fang.

"Growing up in the White Fang, I kept records of everything the White Fang was doing, including finding out news of their activities overseas. Nothing I had kept record of matches up. I didn't want to tell Weiss this, but I strongly believe Ivory's parents were never killed, at least not by the hands of the White Fang. Weiss' sister is lying."

"That's a pretty serious revelation, Blake. If this is all true, we have to tell Weiss!"

"We can't because one, I don't have concrete proof that her sister is lying, and two, I think the last thing the Schnees want right now is even more family drama."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Until I can piece together who Ivory's real parents might be, we have to keep this a secret. That INCLUDES Ruby and your uncle, all right?"

"Are you sure not even Ruby should know?"

"Yang, I'm trusting you to keep this secret! That means NO ONE ELSE!"

"All right, I hear ya!"

Yang handed Blake her journal back and laid back down, hoping to catch whatever sleep she still could.

#

"So where do you plan on taking Ivory?" asked Ruby.

"Nowhere specific," said Weiss. "Winter just wants to show Ivory around the city; she says it's to teach Ivory the culture around here."

"Can one of them be the ice cream shop? I bet she'd love to see that!"

"Sounds more like something you'd love to see."

As they were walking down the street, they came across one of the AK-200s scouting the area for troublemakers. The AK-200 noticed Ruby and Weiss and stopped them.

"Halt!" said the AK-200. "Present your identification!"

"Excuse me," said Weiss, "but I'm Weiss Schnee? Does it look like I need identification?"

"Present your identification! Failure to comply will result in arrest!"

"All right! Ruby, take out your scroll."

Ruby and Weiss dug into their pockets for their scrolls and handed them to the AK-200, who quickly scanned the information into its database.

"Identification confirmed," said the AK-200. "Proceed."

"Thank you," said Weiss. The huntresses continued walking down the block, only to be stopped by another AK-200.

"Halt!" said the second AK-200. "Present your identification!"

"But we just showed them to the other robot!" said Ruby.

"Present your identification! Failure to comply will result in arrest!"

"UGH! You've got to be kidding me!"

Ruby and Weiss went through the routine once again.

"Identification confirmed," said the AK-200. "Proceed."

"Are we going to have to do this with every robot we come across?" asked Ruby.

"Seems like it," said Weiss. "I'll have to contact Ironwood to correct this error."

"Halt!" said another nearby AK-200.

"That's it!" said Ruby, busting out her Crescent Rose in scythe form.

"Please disarm your weapon or I will use force!" replied the robot, aiming its gun at Ruby.

"Ruby, put your weapon away!" said Weiss.

"Or else what?" said Ruby.

"Or else you will be court martialed by Atlas!" replied a familiar cold voice. Weiss turned around and saw Winter arrive with Ivory, who was wearing her blanket like a cape.

"Hello Ruby and Weiss!" greeted Ivory.

"Miss Rose, put away your weapon," said Winter. "I will take care of this."

Ruby turned her weapon back into portable mode. Ivory stood next to Weiss while Winter approached the AK-200.

"Atlas Specialist Winter Schnee ID Override 8720151114, subject Ruby Rose, subject Weiss Schnee."

"Identifications confirmed," said the AK-200. "Proceed."

"There," said Winter. "You won't have to worry about being asked for ID anymore."

"Why did you have to make this such a hassle in the first place?" asked Ruby.

"Because our enemies may use false identification and get past through our defenses. Sorry if it's an inconvenience for you, but we can't have another breach drive the city into chaos, now can we?"

"I guess."

"Your welcome," replied Winter.

"Winter, can we go now?" asked Ivory.

"Before we do," said Weiss, "why are you wearing your blanket like that, Ivory?"

"I'm wearing a cape just like Ruby!" said Ivory. Ruby looked at Ivory wearing her cape, and seemed perplexed.

"Huh," said Ruby.

"Something wrong?" asked Weiss.

"The way Ivory looks with that cape on...something about it seems familiar."

"How so?"

"I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like she reminds me of someone."

"Do you like it?" asked Ivory.

"Of course I like it! Capes and hoods are awesome! I've been trying to get Weiss to wear one, but she refuses!"

"Because capes have no purpose in battle!" said Weiss. "I can at least see hoods protecting you from the sun and rain, but capes are completely useless and sometimes hazardous!"

"If you two are done debating," said Winter, "I'd like to get going."

"Can I get a picture with me and Ivory first?" asked Ruby.

"Can we, Winter?" asked Ivory.

"Very well," said Winter.

Ruby handed Weiss her scroll as Ruby and Ivory stood together making poses with their capes. Now that Winter thought about it, if Ruby was one of Qrow's nieces, that meant Ruby and Ivory were extended family. As much as Winter wished Ruby would tone down her giddiness, it brought a smile to Winter's face knowing that Ivory had at least one other good relative, even if Ivory was never to know about it.

"So where to first?" asked Ruby.

"I believe there is a book store downtown," said Winter. "I'd like to get some books for Ivory."

The four of them walked through the city of Vale, the AK-200s ignoring them thanks to Winter's special override. Ivory looked around and noticed there were Faunus walking around the city as well; Ivory gripped Winter's hand hard and started to cling near her leg.

"Winter, there are Faunus everywhere!" said Ivory.

"It's okay, Ivory," said Weiss. "They're not part of the White Fang."

"But papa says every Faunus could be a White Fang member in disguise! We can't trust them!"

"Ivory, the things father says about Faunus aren't necessarily true. You can't go your whole life being distrustful of everyone you meet."

"Papa says the only person you can trust is yourself. Everyone is a potential backstabber."

"Papa is wrong, Ivory," said Winter. "There are plenty of people you can trust besides yourself. After all, you trust me, Weiss, and especially Pyrrha, don't you?"

"I guess so, but then why would papa say not to trust anyone?"

"Because sometimes he's just being a bitter old man."

They arrived at a book store called "Book Trade." There was apparently another word before "book," but a hastily put together banner was covering it. With no one around, Winter went up to the desk and rang the service bell.

"I'm coming!" said a voice from the back. Out came a young fox girl with thick glasses carrying a large stack of books, only to trip and drop the books on the floor.

"S-sorry!" said the fox girl. "I'm still pretty new around here!"

"May I speak to the owner of this establishment?" asked Winter.

"Oh, but I am the owner! Just bought this place a few days ago!"

"What happened to the previous owner?"

"Moved away suddenly! The property owner wanted to sell the place and it was always my dream to run a book store so here I am!"

"I see. Anyway, do you have any art books?"

"You mean like books with pictures, or coloring books?"

"The former."

"Um...art books...oh, aisle three!"

"Excuse me Winter...er, Miss Schnee?" said Ruby. "As a token of my appreciation, I'd like to pay for Ivory's books."

"You don't need to do that," said Ivory. "Papa gave me a card for buying what I want."

"Think of it as a gift from me! Besides, what if Papa didn't give you enough?"

"I'm sure five million lien is more than enough."

Ruby was taken aback at how much money Ivory had on her.

"Five million?" asked Ruby. "Are you sure you're not off by like four zeroes?"

"I guess it's obvious who his favorite daughter is," mumbled Weiss, secretly agitated that Ivory was given such an astronomical allowance while her credit card was completely useless.

"I'm not surprised," said Winter. "Our father spares no expense with Ivory. However, I will be paying for everyone's books, so you needn't worry."

As Winter and Ivory looked over the art books, Ruby and Weiss were browsing the rest of the store. Ruby looked at the top shelf near the wall and was excited to spot a book she's been wanting to get. With the book being too high to reach, Ruby started climbing the shelves to reach it.

"What are you doing?" asked Weiss.

"They've got that weapons book I've been dying to get up there!" said Ruby.

"You know you're going to fall by climbing like that."

"Nonsense! I've climbed bigger-"

Before Ruby can finish, she suddenly slipped off the shelf and landed on her rear, resulting in a bruised butt.

"Ow!" cried Ruby. "Why do they make shelves this high if no one can reach them?"

"I'll get it," said Weiss.

Weiss formed a few glyphs in the air and used them as steps to reach the top shelf and grab Ruby's book. Ivory noticed Weiss walking up her glyphs and ran over to get a closer look.

"Whoa!" said Ivory. "You can use glyphs like that?"

"Of course I can," said Weiss. "It's what makes Winter and I's semblance unique."

"Can I do it, too?"

"Unfortunately Ivory, you can't. Only a Schnee can produce glyphs like that."

"But I can make glyphs! Watch!"

Ivory stretched out her arms towards the floor and started grunting, as if trying to use her energy to make something appear. Weiss didn't want to stop Ivory in case she started had a meltdown over it, so she stood back and waited for Ivory to stop messing around.

To Weiss' surprise, a bright white glyph was starting to form on the floor. Weiss looked at the glyph and was shocked to see it had the same pattern as the other Schnee glyphs. The glyph quickly disappeared as Ivory suddenly felt her head hurt.

"Ivory, how did you do that?" asked Weiss.

"I don't know," said Ivory. "I just saw Winter do this before and tried to see if I can do it myself. I can make one appear, but I can't seem to do anything with them. It also gives me a bad headache."

"I think that was pretty cool," said Ruby. "Don't you think so?"

"Yeah...cool," said Weiss. "Ruby, can I speak to you alone for a minute?"

Ivory went back to Winter while Ruby and Weiss huddled near a corner to talk privately.

"Is something wrong?" asked Ruby.

"Ivory has the same semblance as Winter and I!" said Weiss.

"What's wrong with Ivory having a similar semblance?"

"That semblance can only be obtained in the Schnee family bloodline!"

"But Ivory is a Schnee, isn't she?"

"An adopted Schnee! Technically she isn't part of our bloodline, so she shouldn't be able to produce glyphs like that!"

"Wow Weiss, you're really worried about this. Maybe because she's been around your family for so long, she kind of...well, adopted the semblance herself?"

"I've never heard of semblances working like that. I'm going to have to research into this. Meanwhile Ruby, do NOT mention what we saw to anyone, okay?"

"My lips are sealed!"

The two caught up with Winter as she paid for everyone's books, pretending they didn't witness anything unusual a moment ago.

"Thank you for shopping at the Book Trade!" said the fox girl.

After the group had left the book store, the fox girl pulled out her scroll and contacted one of her sources.

"Alaikum, my brother. I need to speak with Adam right away."

As Winter was deciding where to take Ivory next, Ruby got a message on her scroll.

"Who is it?" asked Weiss.

"It's my uncle," said Ruby. "He wants me to visit him this afternoon."

"Do you have to?" said Ivory. "That man is a jerk!"

"I know he seems mean Ivory, but Uncle Qrow does have a nice side to him. He just doesn't like to show it much."

"If he had a nice side, he would have said sorry to me, but he didn't! He's a jerk and I hope I never see him again!"

Ruby looked upset that Ivory was saying bad things about Qrow, but she knew it was pointless trying to defend him to a girl who had her disability mocked, so she didn't say another word as the group continued touring around Vale.

#

Qrow was staying in a cheap motel within the city. Qrow was always frugal with his money when it came to his sleeping habits; he saw no need to pay for anything more than a bed and a shower. This gave him plenty of money to obtain news through the bars he visited, and some other personal expenditures of his.

While he was waiting for his nieces to arrive, he took out the photo of his team he always liked to carry. Those days as Team STRQ were some of the best days of his life. He was hoping those days as one big family would continue when Taiyang was going to marry his sister Raven, only for Raven to disappear shortly after Yang was born. A part of him wasn't surprised Raven did so, but he had hoped having a child would force Raven to settle down with a family instead of continuing with that damn tribe he hoped to have left behind when he joined Beacon.

Then came that fateful day with Summer. That day he wished above all else he can go back in time and prevent from happening. A day that changed him and everyone close to him for the rest of their lives. Just looking at Summer's face was starting to bring those memories of that day back to mind; he reached across the table to where his flask was and took a big swig of his drink.

In the middle of his drinking he heard a loud knocking on his door. He put down his flask and tucked his photo backed into his jacket pocket before answering the door, greeting his older niece.

"Good to see you, Yang," said Qrow.

"Wish I can say the same," said Yang, smelling the scent of whiskey coming from Qrow's breath. "You really drink this early?"

"Whiskey doesn't know what time it is."

Yang took a seat on the bed Qrow wasn't using, which wasn't hard to tell since one bed had pretty much all its covers removed.

"So why did you want me to come here?" asked Yang. "Couldn't you have just come to our dorm?"

"And have to run into the ice queens again? No thanks."

"That reminds me; you are going to apologize to them eventually, right?"

"There's nothing for me to apologize for. I stand by what I said."

"You're really not going to apologize about what happened yesterday? I mean, I don't really like that kid, but you made her really upset with that whole speech doubting her disability."

"That kid isn't mentally disabled; she's just a spoiled brat like her sisters."

"I hate to sound like Weiss, but you really don't know that for sure, Uncle Qrow."

A frantic fast knock can be heard on the door, indicating the other niece had arrived. As soon as Qrow opened the door, Ruby ran in and hugged her uncle.

"Hey Uncle Qrow!" said Ruby. "Missed me already?"

"Sure, why not?" said Qrow, detaching Ruby from himself. Ruby went inside and took a seat right next to Yang.

"So what'd you want to see us about, Uncle Qrow?"

"We didn't really get to talk much before the ice queens showed up and...well, you know the rest. So, I figured with just us here, we can finally catch up on some things."

"Before we do, I need you to do something for me, Uncle Qrow."

"What is it?"

"Could you please apologize to Ivory about what you said to her?"

"For the love of..." Qrow buried his face in his hands and sighed, getting sick of having to be asked to apologize.

"Is it really going to kill you to just say sorry so we can all move on?" asked Yang.

"I called you two because I wanted to focus on just us. So about we drop the whole thing with the Schnee family?"

"But Uncle Qrow," said Ruby, "Weiss is one of my closest friends, and I don't want to go the next several years at Beacon knowing my uncle and my friend's family hate each other. Just say sorry to Ivory, pleeeeease?"

Ruby folded her hands and gave Qrow the puppy-dog look. Even a stonehearted man like Qrow couldn't resist that look.

"Fine," said Qrow. "If we all get together and I apologize to what I said to Ivory, despite not meaning it, will that make everyone happy?"

"Could you at least try to sound convincing?" asked Yang.

"Trust me, I know how to convince women."

"TMI!" said Ruby.

"Why is this such a big deal for you?" said Yang.

"Because one, I don't like apologizing when I'm not in the wrong, and two, I refuse to apologize to a Schnee."

"What do you have against Weiss' family?" asked Ruby.

"We can be here all day if I had to go over all the reasons I hate the Schnees. So instead I'll just get to the one that bothers me the most: I have no respect for their father. Huntsmen like me are the ones risking our lives to save this planet, while Jock-Strap Schnee sits comfortably in his home, surrounded by the best protection he can pay for while exploiting his workers, putting families out of work, and instigating this war we have with the White Fang. That man wouldn't last a DAY in my shoes."

"Okay, so you hate Weiss' father. Why take it out on Weiss and her sisters?"

"Because the fruit never falls far from the tree, and those girls are evidence of that, especially Winter."

"Do you know her personally?"

"We've worked together a lot over the years whenever Atlas and Vale had joint missions. Granted, at least she had the courage to join the military and put her inheritance where her mouth is, but that's where my respect for her ends. She's just another crony of her father's, and what really pisses me off is she wasn't always like that. There was a side of her that I had a bit of admiration for, but that's a story for another time."

"Aw c'mon Uncle Qrow!" said Ruby. "You can tell us!"

"Sorry Ruby, but it's one of those adult only conversations."

"But we're adults! We're borderline professionals!"

"Yeah, Uncle Qrow!" said Yang. "Just between us professionals, what's the scoop with you and Winter?"

"All right," said Qrow. "I'll let you in on a little secret about the ice queen, but don't go mentioning this to your friends, okay?"

Ruby and Yang motioned their lips sealed shut. Qrow sat back in his seat and got comfortable.

"About ten years ago, some of the veterans and I were asked to come to Vacuo and assist on taking down the rapidly increasing Grimm numbers. After a successful mission, we get rewarded with a feast for kings. That's when I had an interesting discussion with the ice queen."

"This sounds juicy!" said Yang.

"Was it ever. She was talking about how much she hated her dad and wanted to move out and be her own independent person. You know, typical teenager rebellion. She starts having a little too much to drink, and Ironwood insists I take her back to her hotel. I planned to just take her back and leave, but she insists I keep her company. Well, one thing lead to another, and when you've got two bored adults full of alcohol and a lustful desire..."

"OH GROSS!" said Ruby. "You did the thing with her!"

"Seriously, Uncle Qrow?" asked Yang. "You and Winter did it? Isn't she like a million years younger than you?"

"The age gap is pretty wide I admit," said Qrow, "but we're still two consenting adults."

"So how do you go from disliking each other, to sleeping with each other, and then back to hating each other?"

"We never really talked to each other after that. In fact, I didn't see her again for over a year, and when I did, she went right back to being the Winter she used to be. I don't know why she decided to suddenly pretend that the one night we tolerated each other didn't happen, but I just assumed it was all big talk from a teenager who didn't know any better and later regretted what they did."

"You didn't see her for over a year?" asked Ruby. "What happened?"

"I just assumed she was too busy completing her training to be going out on big name missions like the ones I've been on."

"What about that mission she had in Mistral?"

"What mission?"

"Oh yeah!" said Yang. "Weiss said Winter was on some kind of secret mission in Mistral for such a long time!"

"First I've heard of this," said Qrow. "What kind of mission was it?"

"She wasn't clear about the details, but I think it had to do with the White Fang? That's when she found Ivory!"

"Really now?"

"Uncle Qrow, did Winter never tell you about Ivory?"

"Not a clue. In fact, no one close to the Schnees told me about her. Maybe it's because I'd see through that aspy crap they claim she has."

"I think there might be another reason they never told you."

"What's that?"

Yang suddenly remembered that she wasn't supposed to mention what Blake told her that morning.

"Actually, forget I said anything!" said Yang.

"You're hiding something. Spill it, Yang!"

"I can't! It's supposed to be a secret!"

"I had no problem sharing my secret!"

"Yeah, Yang!" said Ruby. "What's this secret of yours?"

"If I tell you," said Yang, "do you SWEAR not to let anyone else know about this?"

"Not a word!" said Qrow, making the same lip sealing pantomime.

"Blake wanted me to keep this secret, but Ivory's parents may not have been killed by the White Fang."

"Then who did kill Ivory's parents?"

"Actually...Blake thinks they never were killed."

"So the Schnees just adopted some random girl? That doesn't sound like something they would do."

"Hey, Uncle Qrow?" said Ruby. "On an unrelated note, you can't learn family semblances just by hanging around your family, can you?"

"Never heard of that being the case. Why such a question?"

"Um...for an upcoming exam we're taking?"

"Really? You're taking an exam during the break before the Vytal Festival?"

"...yes?"

"All right, time for you to reveal your secret."

"I can't! I promised Weiss I wouldn't tell!"

"Then maybe I'll ask Weiss about family semblances."

"Okay okay, I'll tell you! But you have to keep this secret too!"

"Huntsman's honor," said Qrow, holding his hand up like he was a boy scout.

"Okay, well...when we were shopping with Ivory, Ivory used her semblance to make glyphs and it looked very similar to Weiss'."

"How similar?"

"As in exactly the same. When Weiss saw it happening, she freaked out and told me her semblance can only come from the Schnee bloodline."

"So maybe Ivory is part of an extended family we don't know about," said Yang, "like a cousin or something."

"But that doesn't explain why they would keep her adoption a secret," said Qrow.

"Oh man, this is sounding like one of those soap opera plot twists!" said Ruby.

"Wait a minute...how old is Ivory supposed to be?"

"She's nine."

Qrow started to crunch some numbers in his head, and that's when he realized that Ivory's age plus Winter's absence added up to around the time they were together on that mission.

"Do either of you have a picture of Ivory on your scroll?" asked Qrow.

"I do!" said Ruby.

Ruby held out her scroll with the picture of her and Ivory doing their cape pose. Qrow quickly copied the photo to his scroll and took out the picture of his team. He zoomed in on Ivory's face, and compared Ivory's looks to his younger self. As he compared the two faces, his eyes widened and his lips were quivering.

"Are you okay, Uncle Qrow?" asked Ruby. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I have to go!" said Qrow, running out the door.

"What was that about?"

"Hey Ruby," said Yang, "can I see that picture as well?"

Ruby handed Yang her scroll and zoomed in on Ivory's face as well, wondering what Qrow saw that caused him to freak out. When Yang realized why Qrow was zooming in on Ivory, she had a look of shock on her face.

"Oh my God!" said Yang.

"What is it, Yang?" asked Ruby. "Is something wrong with Uncle Qrow? Why did he look like he was about to freak out?"

"If my hunch is correct...I think he knows who Ivory's parents are."

"Huh? How would Uncle Qrow know who Ivory's parents are?"

Ruby looked at the photo of herself and Ivory. It took Ruby a few seconds to get it as well, and had the same look on her face that Yang did.

"Wait...NO!" said Ruby. "You think that...Uncle Qrow...and Winter...?"

#

The Schnees were having dinner inside the hotel's restaurant. Winter made sure to get something light for Ivory so she didn't waste time trying to separate her food. While Winter and Weiss were waiting for Ivory to finish, Winter received a message on her scroll. Surprisingly, it was from Qrow.

"I'm in your hotel room. We need to talk."

 _"What the hell is he doing in there?"_ thought Winter.

"Someone important?" asked Weiss.

"Weiss, I have to go back to our hotel room for a moment. Here's my card and spare key in case I take too long."

Winter got up from her table and hurried to the elevator. She wondered why of all times and places, Qrow would want to speak to her now in her hotel room. It couldn't be something business related if they had to meet alone; this must be something personal. Perhaps he came to apologize about his words towards Ivory? She would have preferred him doing so in front of Ivory herself, but it would be a start.

Winter opened the door to her room, and standing in the middle of the room was Qrow with his arms folded, not looking pleased.

"You might want to sit down for this," said Qrow.

"What's going on?" asked Winter. "How did you even get in here?"

"A huntsman never reveals his tricks, but back to the point, I'm here to talk about Ivory."

"Did you finally come to apologize?"

"This isn't easy, but here goes."

Qrow cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"No need for dramatics," said Winter. "Just say it."

"Winter...I'm sorry for making your kid cry."

"There, now was that so hard..."

Winter paused when she noticed what Qrow suddenly said at the end.

"Wait...did you say 'your kid?' I believe you meant sister."

"That's right, she's your sister, not your daughter! You adopted her after some big mission you were on like nine years ago. Her parents were killed by the White Fang and you took her in because you couldn't bear to see this child grow up without a family."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that Ivory has it rough. That poor little girl lost her parents at birth. At least...that's what I've been told."

"You have five seconds to explain where this is going or else I'm-"

"I know who Ivory's parents are."

Winter could feel a sharp pain emanate from her chest the moment she heard those words coming out Qrow's mouth. In her mind, she was freaking out that Qrow somehow knew the truth, even though it couldn't be possible.

"How could you possibly know?" asked Winter.

"With a little help from you sister's friends," explained Qrow. "First off, the whole White Fang killing Ivory's parents story was bogus. Don't know how they figured that out, but I intend to take their word. Second, Ivory can use glyphs that are supposed to be a bloodline exclusive semblance to the Schnee family. Adopted children can't learn a bloodline semblance. Third, and most importantly, I remember you and I had a pretty wild one night stand ten years ago, and then roughly nine months later, you come back from Mistral with a newly born baby. Now, put all the pieces together, and what do you have?"

Winter tried her best to pretend that Qrow wasn't getting under her skin, but couldn't stop herself from trembling with fear.

"The truth about Ivory is she's your daughter," said Qrow. "More precisely, she's OUR daughter!"

"Unless you have actual proof of what you're talking about," said Winter, "you'd better get the hell out before I have the entire Atlas army drag you out of this kingdom!"

"You want proof? I have it right here." Qrow took out his old photo and placed it on the table.

"What is this?"

"Photo of me and my team back in the day. In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one on the far right."

"And how is this proof of anything?"

"Take a good look at me, and then a take look at the little one."

Qrow took out his scroll and pulled up the picture of Ivory, already cropped to focus on her.

"Anyone with half a brain can look at those facial features and come to the same conclusion. So, do I have to drag ourselves to a paternity center and get a test done, or are you going to come clean?"

Winter sat down at the table and covered her face. She didn't know whether to feel angry and sad that she was forced to come clean, or relieved that after ten years of having to bottle up her emotions and keep Ivory's existence a secret, she was finally going to be able to tell Qrow the truth.

"It's true," said Winter. "I am Ivory's mother, and you...are Ivory's father."

"Well, glad we saved ourselves a DNA check. Now, moving on to my next question..."

Qrow slammed his fist on the table to jolt Winter out of her seat. While Winter was feeling emotionally confused, it was clear Qrow was getting pissed.

"Why in the hell did you keep her a secret from me?" asked Qrow.

"Because I had to!" said Winter. "I didn't have the money or resources to raise Ivory on my own, so I had to turn to my father for help! If I told you about Ivory, he would sever all ties with me, and I'd be left with no way to help Ivory! Part of the deal was as long as he was helping Ivory, I could never tell you the truth!"

"So it's because of your father that I was never to know about Ivory?"

"Believe me, there have been many times I wish I could have told you, but as long as my bastard father had me in his grasp I couldn't-"

"Coward."

"What?"

"You heard me: Coward! You're a coward, Winter! What happened to all that talk ten years ago about getting away from your father? Was all that just false bravado or were you seriously drunk that night?"

"You...you..."

Winter was hoping that Qrow would understand the predicament Winter was in and realize she had no choice but to obey her father, but instead, here he was calling her a coward. All those years of Winter trying to defend Qrow from people accusing him of not being good enough to raise Ivory suddenly felt like a waste to Winter.

Winter raised her arm and slapped Qrow hard across the face. Qrow barely reacted, as if he knew the slap was coming and took it anyway.

"You dare call me a coward for putting my family first?" yelled Winter. "For taking responsibility of my mistake?"

"And what mistake would that be, ice queen?"

"That I ever slept with a selfish, inconsiderate bastard like you! I wish that night between us never happened!"

"And yet you kept her! Several months you had the chance to end it before it began, but you went through with it! You allowed yourself to be controlled by your old man!"

"Because I was not going to kill my daughter before she was born! I was going to raise her and give her the life she deserved! But then again, that's just like you, isn't it? You don't give a damn about family!"

"There's a lot of things I don't give a damn about, but family isn't one of them! One of the reasons I'm a huntsman is to look out for my family!"

"A family that isn't even yours! You've been avoiding the responsibility of raising a child all your life! How would I have known if I told you the truth, you would have done the right thing and raise Ivory?"

"At least you would fucking know! But instead, you keep this secret behind my back for ten fucking years! Sounds like you and your father already made up your minds that I was already a worthless father! So how do you really feel, Winter? Are you glad that I finally know the truth, or were you hoping that I'd never find out because you can't stand the thought of me raising a God damn Schnee?"

"You really want to know the truth? The truth is...the truth is..."

Winter looked at Qrow and noticed he was leaning over and looking past Winter. Winter turned around and felt her heart drop to her stomach. Standing behind Winter were Weiss and Ivory, who entered the room amid Winter and Qrow arguing. Weiss and Ivory appeared as if they had seen ghosts.

"Winter?" said Weiss. "Is...is what that old man saying is true? You...and him...and Ivory...?"

"So you want me to tell them, or should I?" asked Qrow.

"But...but that can't be true!" said Ivory. "My real parents were killed! I was adopted by papa! Winter...that is the truth, isn't it?"

Winter walked up to Ivory, got down on one knee, and hugged Ivory tight.

"Ivory...I'm so sorry," said Winter.

"No!" yelled Ivory, pushing Winter away. "This isn't true!"

"Look kid," said Qrow, "I know this is a lot to take in, but-"

"NO! THIS! ISN'T! TRUE!"

Ivory suddenly ran out of the room and down the hallway.

"Ivory, come back here!" said Weiss, chasing after Ivory. Winter quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and got up to chase Ivory. With the Schnees gone, Qrow decided now was the best time to get his stuff and leave.

Weiss had lost Ivory the moment Ivory ran into the staircase leading to the lobby. Weiss was in the lobby of the hotel, hoping she could catch Ivory before she ran out of the hotel, but she was already too late. Weiss took out her scroll and contacted everyone on her team and Team JNPR.

"What's the emergency, Weiss?" asked Ruby.

"Ivory ran away!" said Weiss. "I don't know where she went!"

"Weiss, calm down! We'll start searching the city! Do you know where she might have run to?"

"I don't know!"

"Hold it," said Winter, finally catching up to Weiss. "I may know where she's going. Is Pyrrha Nikos there?"

"I'm here," said Pyrrha. "What do you need?"

"Stay in your room. If I know Ivory, she's probably heading for you."

"But Beacon Academy is far from here!" said Weiss. "She's not going to remember how to get there!"

"Trust me, she'll remember."

#

About twenty minutes later, as Winter predicted, Ivory was able to find her way back to Beacon Academy. She headed for Team JNPR's dorm and knocked loudly on her door. As soon as Pyrrha opened the door, Ivory ran in and balled up into a corner and kept crying.

"At least we know she's here," said Pyrrha. "Jaune, tell Team RWBY Ivory is here."

"I'll call Weiss," said Ren. As the others were contacting RWBY, Pyrrha went over to cheer Ivory up.

"Ivory, can you calm down and tell me what happened?"

"My entire family lied to me!" yelled Ivory. "They hate me because I'm the black sheep of the family!"

"I'm sure they don't hate you."

"But they do! Winter lied about my parents! Winter is actually my mommy and Ruby's jerk uncle is my daddy!"

"Well that's certainly awkward," said Nora.

"Is that true, Ivory?" asked Pyrrha.

"I don't know!" said Ivory. "Maybe she's just lying to me again because she hates me!"

As Ivory kept crying, there was a knock on Team JNPR's door.

"Ivory, it's Winter!" said Winter. "Please come out so we can talk!"

"NO!" yelled Ivory. "I'm living with Pyrrha from now on! She's the only one I can trust!"

"Ivory, I'm sorry for not telling you! If you come out, I can explain everything!"

"NO! You're lying! Go away!"

Knowing Ivory wasn't going to leave anytime soon, Pyrrha went out of the room to talk to Winter.

"Miss Schnee, maybe it's best Ivory stays with us tonight," said Pyrrha. "It won't be a bother to me or my team, and I'm sure Weiss can help with any issues that come up."

"I suppose you're right," said Winter. "This is my number. Don't hesitate to call me for anything, and please...let Ivory know I love her and I had my reasons for not telling her."

"I understand. Good night, Miss Schnee."

With Winter heading back to her hotel room, Weiss tried to see if she could talk to Ivory.

"Can I see Ivory?" asked Weiss.

"Ivory, Weiss is at the door," said Pyrrha. "Do you want to talk to her?"

"NO!" yelled Ivory.

"She's really overwhelmed tonight. Perhaps by morning she'll be okay."

"I'll visit her first thing in the morning," said Weiss.

Weiss went back into her dorm and flopped on her bed, furious and upset over tonight's drama.

"What happened?" asked Ruby.

"Ivory is staying with Team JNPR," said Weiss. "Long story short, your bastard uncle paid a visit to my sister and revealed...I can't say it!"

"Um, Weiss? We...kind of know the truth already."

"Then you know that Winter and Qrow...?"

"We do. Please don't be mad at me!"

"It's not you I'm mad at. I'm mad at your uncle for doing this to Winter, and well...I'm kind of mad at Winter for never telling me the truth. I'm also mad that Ivory is in hysterics and there's nothing I can do to help!"

Weiss buried her head in her pillow, begging for the day to just end already. Just a few hours ago, the Schnee sisters were spending quality time with each other. Now they were broken apart thanks to the secret of Ivory's birth coming to light.

#

With the time almost reaching a couple hours past midnight, the owner of the Get Yer Goat bar was about to clean up and go home when a couple of last minute customers came into the bar. These two looked like an odd couple: The man was nearly seven feet high and had a tattoo on his arm, while his lady friend was barely five feet and had a mix of pink and brown hair.

"Alaikum, my brother!" said the tall man.

"An Alaikum to you too pal," said the barkeep. "What can I get you and the pretty lady?"

"Do you have a menu?"

"Right here, but can you make it quick? I'm closing in about ten minutes."

"We won't be long, brother."

The barkeep gave them a menu as he went back to putting away his stock.

"Do you mind if we order off menu?" asked the tall man.

"If I know how to make it," replied the barkeep. "What would you like?"

"I'll have a third crusade."

The barkeep froze in his place. He suspected the man was a Faunus the moment he greeted him, and that drink request confirmed he was working for the White Fang.

"Sorry 'brother,'" said the barkeep, "but I don't have that kind of drink here. Perhaps you'd find it elsewhere?"

"What's wrong, brother?" said the Lieutenant. "Can you not serve your own people what they desire?"

"Not when what they desire is nothing more than ethnic cleansing disguised as a rights revolution."

"Then tell me brother, do you enjoy being an Uncle Tomcat? How tight of a leash do the humans have on a house mutt like you?"

"You say that as if you actually care about the people you fight for. Was Tukson not one of your people before you had him murdered in cold blood?"

"He was an Uncle Tomcat that needed to be spayed. Don't make the same mistake, brother."

"Trust me, I won't!"

The barkeep pulled out a dagger and tried to take a swing at them; Neo quickly took out her umbrella and opened it, knocking the weapon out of the barkeep's hand. Before he can react, the Lieutenant grabbed him by the head and slammed him hard into the bar, rendering the barkeep unconscious.

"Sometimes the best way to save an animal is to put them to sleep."

The Lieutenant and Neo left the bar, taking the unconscious Faunus with them.


	6. One Long Night

Qrow was back in his motel room, distraught over the fact that he was now a father. Having a child of his own was the one thing he didn't want to do, and here he was, suddenly the father of a child he never knew he had, and with a Schnee of all people. Had it been with anyone else who wasn't a part of the public eye, the situation would not be so dire, but the Schnee family was, for better or worse, literally the most famous family in all of Remnant.

Qrow didn't know what he was going to do, so he decided to call the only person that can help him now.

"What's going on, Qrow?" asked Taiyang.

"I'm in some deep shit, Tai," said Qrow. "Really deep shit."

"How deep are we talking?"

"Tai, I...I have a daughter."

Taiyang had to pause for a few moments to take in what Qrow said.

"Are you serious Qrow?" asked Tai. "You have a kid?"

"Yes."

"Legitimate?"

"No."

"So who's the mother?"

"Winter Schnee."

"Schnee? THAT Schnee?"

"Know any other famous Schnees?"

"Qrow, I was afraid one of these days you'd wind up with an illegitimate kid, but with a SCHNEE of all people?"

"Tai, I didn't call you to be judged! I called because I need your help!"

"All right. First of all, how old is the kid?"

"Nine."

"And you're just NOW finding out about this?"

"I'll tell you the details some other time. Look, I need your help on what I should do."

"Well, as a single father of two daughters, I can definitely tell you you've come to the right guy. What exactly do you need help with?"

"How do I break it that I'm not going to be there for her?"

"Not going to be there for her? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean because I'm a huntsman, I can't...c'mon Tai, you know what I mean!"

Tai was surprised to hear Qrow sound so stressed out. Usually Qrow was either calm or pissed, but it had been a long time since Tai heard Qrow sound like he was in distress.

"Okay Qrow, I need you to calm down for me, all right?"

"It's hard to stay calm knowing I have a daughter I won't be visiting."

"Oh, I get it! You mean because of what Ozzy has you doing, you'll probably be traveling around so much, you'll hardly be home to see her. Well Qrow, I find if you discuss things frankly with your kid-"

"That's not what I mean, Tai."

"It isn't?"

"Tai, when I said I can't be there for her...I mean ever."

Hearing Qrow say that he didn't want to be around his kid caused Tai to get frustrated. He was all too familiar with people who purposely tried to avoid their kid.

"So what are you going to do then?" asked Tai. "Walk out of your child's life like your sister?"

"Are you really comparing me to Raven?" said Qrow. "I don't want to abandon my child; I just can't be around her physically."

"You can't do that, Qrow. You need to be there for her, in person!"

"Tai, even if this child was legit and I was a happily married man, I just can't raise kids!"

"You're still having that fear, huh? Maybe now's the time you should seek professional help."

"Even if I were to do that, I'm still a huntsman by trade. One bad mission and I can end up like..."

Qrow's free arm suddenly started shaking. Qrow tried to use his free arm to grab his flask and try to turn the nozzle.

"Qrow, it wasn't easy for me either," said Tai, "and it still isn't easy for me knowing Ruby and Yang are training for the same job Summer had. You remember those days when I didn't feel like having a family anymore? When I thought I wasn't going to that day they snuck out of the house?"

"How could I forget?" said Qrow. "I was practically those kids' surrogate father while you spent most of the day either in your bed or on your couch."

"But eventually I realized I had two girls that needed their real father, so I got past my depression and moved on. If someone like me can snap out of it, you can too, Qrow. You must get over this fear of yours. I think you should start seeing a therapist."

"No therapy is going to cure me of what I have."

"No, but you can learn to control it without hitting the bottle."

Qrow didn't respond, but Tai could clearly hear him swallowing something while on the phone.

"You just took a drink while I was talking, didn't you?" asked Tai.

"Not like I have to go anywhere tonight."

"Qrow, please get help. If being a huntsman doesn't kill you, that addiction will."

Qrow hung up and put his scroll away. He looked on the table where he had his photo of Team STRQ laid out. Specifically, he was looking at the missing member of the team.

"How can I be there for her when I wasn't there for you?"

#

It had been a long and uncomfortable night for everyone. Winter had spent the night crying herself to sleep, knowing that it was likely her agreement with her father was coming to an end, and it didn't look like Ivory was going to forgive Winter for keeping their true relationship secret. Qrow spent the night like he did nearly every night: drinking until he was calm enough to get a restful night's sleep.

Over at the Beacon dorms, Team JNPR was having a rough morning having to accommodate for their newest roommate. Thankfully Pyrrha seemed to have an infinite amount of patience to deal with Ivory's sudden outbursts and adapting to her strange behavior. Team RWBY's morning wasn't any better as Weiss couldn't fully comprehend how her family bloodline had suddenly changed completely overnight.

"I feel so stupid!" said Weiss. "My sister disappears for nearly nine months and comes back with a child...how the hell did I never catch that?"

"Don't beat yourself up over it," said Yang. "You were just a kid back then."

"But why did Winter never tell me the truth? Did she think I was suddenly going to rat her out to everyone I knew?"

"Maybe she felt embarrassed that she had an illegitimate child, especially with a man at least over a decade older than her."

"But I'm her sister! If she can't trust me to know the truth, what does that say about me? About our relationship?"

"Um, guys?" said Ruby. "I just realized something."

"What is it?" asked Weiss.

"If Ivory is really the daughter of Uncle Qrow and Winter, does this mean we're related now?"

"Hey, you're right," said Yang. "Are we related now?"

"Let's see," said Weiss. "If Ivory is Qrow and Winter's daughter..."

It didn't take long before Weiss realized what Ivory being Winter's daughter meant what Weiss was in relation to Ivory.

"OH CRAP!" yelled Weiss. "If Ivory is my sister's kid...that would mean I'm actually her aunt! I'm not even of legal age yet! I'm too young to be somebody's aunt!"

"Now that I think about it," said Yang, "my uncle's daughter would make Ivory and I cousins."

Yang smiled and wrapped an arm around Weiss' shoulders.

"Well what do you know! We're somewhat related, Weiss!"

"That's even WORSE!" moaned Weiss. Weiss crawled up into a ball on her bed and kept moaning over the fact that she was now an old hag tangentially related to her dumb loudmouth teammate.

"Weiss?" said Ruby. "Even though Uncle Qrow is technically not my uncle by blood, I'm glad to be in a weird way related to you."

"Easy for you to say! You're still young and have much to live for! I'm now the old bag of the family who never married! It's too late for me!"

"You're seventeen, not seventy!" said Blake. "Anyway, you should see how Ivory is doing."

Weiss composed herself and went next door to Team JNPR's dorm. So far they didn't hear any screaming coming from inside, which Weiss was taking as a positive. Weiss knocked on the door and Pyrrha quickly answered.

"Is Ivory okay?" asked Weiss. "Has she had any meltdowns? Is she eating well?"

"Everything is under control," said Pyrrha. "She had her breakfast and she's reading a book with Jaune."

Weiss peeked inside to see Ivory, but Ivory was nowhere to be found. Jaune was sitting on his bed by himself.

"Jaune, where's Ivory?" asked Weiss.

"Hiding under the bed," said Jaune. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Ivory always tries to hide when someone enters a room."

"Ivory, it's Weiss!" said Pyrrha. "Don't you want to see her?"

They waited a few moments to see if Ivory would at least peak from under the covers, but she remained in her hiding spot.

"Again, I'm sorry for having to put you through this," said Weiss.

"It's no problem at all, really!" said Pyrrha. "Ivory gets along with our team pretty well."

"Okay. I'll bring over some of Ivory's art supplies. Can you make sure she gets her art therapy in today?"

"Of course."

As soon as Weiss dropped off Ivory's art supplies and said her goodbyes, Ivory crawled out from under Jaune's bed.

"Ivory, are you sure you don't want to speak to Weiss?" asked Pyrrha.

Ivory nodded her head. Ivory did not seem to be in the mood to talk to or about her family.

"All right then, what would you like to do next?"

"I want to draw," said Ivory.

Pyrrha set up a workstation for Ivory on one of their desks. Ivory quickly grabbed her pencil and started making her sketch, mumbling to herself about all the details she was going to add. While she was working, Jaune pulled Pyrrha aside to talk with her quietly.

"How long do you think she's going to stay in here?" whispered Jaune.

"I'm sure it won't be longer than a week," whispered Pyrrha. "Ivory will have to go home with Winter at some point."

"What if she decides she doesn't want to go home? We can't have her living here!"

"Calm down, Jaune. Ivory just needs a bit of time to understand what's going on."

"I'm finished," said Ivory, sounding less enthused than she usually did. Pyrrha went over to see what Ivory drew. Rather than draw another fantasy monster, Ivory drew a quick rough sketch of herself and Pyrrha holding hands.

"Well, this is certainly different," said Pyrrha. "What is this?"

"It's me and you as a family," said Ivory. "Because you're the only family member I want to have."

"Oh. Well Ivory, I'm flattered you'd want me to be your family member, but what about your real family?"

Ivory put her head on the desk and sounded like she was almost about to cry.

"My real family hates me!" said Ivory. "I don't want them anymore!"

"Ivory, I've told you before, your family doesn't hate you. If your family hated you, would Weiss have come here to check on you? Would Winter have tried to say sorry if she didn't care about you?"

"But then why did they lie to me? Papa told me only bad people have something to hide. Winter, Weiss...even papa all hid the truth from me! How can I believe anything else they say?"

"You see Ivory, some people are afraid of telling the truth because they don't want to hurt that person's feelings. I'm sure your mother had her reasons for keeping the truth from you, and I guarantee none of it is because she doesn't love you."

"Pyrrha, can you be my mommy instead?"

"I can't do that, Ivory. You'll have to go back to your real family eventually."

"I don't want to!" cried Ivory. With Ivory refusing to ever go back to her real family, Pyrrha was starting to worry that Jaune was right about Ivory attempting to stay here permanently.

"What should we do now?" asked Jaune.

"Tell Weiss I'm going to contact Professor Ozpin," said Pyrrha. "He could certainly sort this out."

#

Weiss and Pyrrha explained to Professor Ozpin the situation with Ivory. Ozpin decided that the only way to get Ivory to leave Team JNPR's dorm was to first have Winter and Qrow explain their sides of the story and figure out what was going on between them. Goodwitch and Ironwood would also be moderating the meeting. Winter of course was the first to arrive.

"Good morning Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch," greeted Winter.

"How are you feeling, Miss Schnee?" asked Goodwitch.

"Quite terrible, honestly. I'm sorry to have you involved in my personal affairs."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. While Qrow isn't here, I want to ask you something if it's not too personal."

"You may."

"Did he take advantage of you that night?"

"Glynda!" said Ozpin. "I know Qrow isn't exactly a model of good behavior, but he wouldn't do such a thing!"

"We don't know that for certain."

"I assure you it was completely consensual," said Winter.

"Are you sure?" asked Ironwood. "You were drinking quite a lot that night."

"I'm sure!" said Winter, agitated that they were already accusing Qrow of something he didn't do.

The elevator doors opened and in walked Qrow, looking like his usual smug self.

"Mornin' Oz, Glynda, backstabber," greeted Qrow.

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you," said Goodwitch. "You're in enough trouble as it is."

"Like I don't know that already."

"Now, let's go over everything we know," said Ozpin. "Ten years ago, the two of you had an affair resulting in a child, Ivory Schnee. To prevent a public disgrace, Ivory was raised as a daughter adopted by Jacques Schnee. Were you aware of this, Ironwood?"

"Yes," said Ironwood. "Mister Schnee insisted Winter not tell Qrow about Ivory's existence, and I lent a hand in making sure the truth remained under wraps."

Qrow started making back stabbing motions with his hand, already getting on the nerves of Ironwood and Goodwitch.

"That's enough, Qrow," said Goodwitch. "You're not in a position to make such snide commentary."

"How about instead of yelling at me half the time," said Qrow, "you get Jimmy here to stop plunging knives in everyone's backs?"

"He's not the one producing bastard offspring. How many other women have you slept with without protection?"

"I dunno; how many loaves of bread have you eaten in a lifetime?"

"Oh my lord!"

"Relax, Glynda. If I had any other kids, I would have known by now."

"As Ironwood was saying," said Ozpin, "Miss Schnee, you had never told anyone outside of your father and Ironwood about Ivory?"

"Yes," said Winter. "I was under an obligation to not have Qrow know about Ivory. In exchange, he agreed to provide everything for her, which I couldn't do at the time."

"So how did you find out about Ivory, Qrow?"

"With a little investigative help from my nieces' team," said Qrow. "If it weren't for them, I'd still be a happily ignorant man."

"I think we all would have been happy if you never found out," said Ironwood.

"And I'd bet you'd be the fucking happiest, Jimmy, depriving a man of his own children!"

"Not to defend James," said Goodwitch, "but you were the one who always said how much you never wanted children."

"Perhaps have you shown more signs of acting like a grown-up," said Ironwood, "we would have been convinced you were worthy of being Ivory's father!"

"I've got a better idea!" said Qrow. "How about we grab some adoption papers and you can be Ivory's father instead, Jimmy? That way you can be a part of the Schnee family without having to suck Jock-Straps'-"

"Qrow!" said Ozpin, stopping Qrow from saying further vulgarities.

"What? Wouldn't that be better for everyone here? I'm sure Jimmy would LOVE to be Ivory's dad! After all, it wouldn't be the first time he backstabbed another man to usurp his position!"

"As much as I would be honored to be Ivory's father," said Ironwood, "she's your responsibility, Qrow."

"You're right. Besides, it'd be awkward for Ivory's father to be a man known for riding her grandfather."

"Will you stop with that gutter mouth?" said Goodwitch.

"It's okay, Glynda," said Ironwood. "He can say whatever he wants about me. Because even if what Qrow said about me was true, it would still be better than a man who couldn't protect his team."

An awkward silence suddenly filled the room after Ironwood's latest comment. Hearing that line caused the smile to be wiped from Qrow's face; his arms began to shake like he was trying to contain his rage.

"What the fuck did you say?" growled Qrow.

"Only the truth," said Ironwood. "How can you protect Ivory when you couldn't protect-"

Ironwood couldn't complete his sentence before Qrow tried to tackle him to the ground. Goodwitch used her semblance to force Qrow away from Ironwood.

"That was too far, James!" said Ozpin.

"He's the one that wanted to get personal!" said Ironwood. "I simply fired back!"

"James, I think it's best that you leave."

"Very well." Ironwood turned face and headed to the elevators. "Miss Schnee, I would recommend getting those adoption papers."

"I'll consider it, sir," replied Winter.

Once Ironwood left, Goodwitch let go of Qrow. Qrow took out his flask and drank his entire storage of whiskey in one go to help calm himself down.

"It appears before we can help Ivory," said Ozpin, "we have another situation that needs diffusing. It's clear to me that the two of you need to have a serious conversation to get your relationship in order. I suggest the two of you find a place, preferably off campus, to have this meeting."

"Of course," said Winter. "How about my room, seven o'clock?"

"It's a date," said Qrow.

"On a personal note, Qrow," said Ozpin. "I hope you do the right thing and take responsibility."

"And on a personal note to you, Ozpin, we all have skeletons in our closet. Or in your case, sleeping in your basement."

Qrow slammed his palm on the desk and stared into Ozpin's eyes.

"So don't fucking lecture ME about responsibility!"

Qrow stormed out of the room, frustrated from having to be lectured by a group of people he thought were supposed to be friends. Winter took out her handkerchief to wipe her eyes; her day was already hard enough with having to be separated from Ivory.

"Are you all right, Miss Schnee?" asked Ozpin.

"I'm fine, Professor Ozpin," said Winter.

"Miss Schnee," said Goodwitch, "I want you to know that I am very appalled by what Qrow has done. If there's anything you need me to do, you name it."

"With all due respect, Professor Goodwitch, it's not Qrow you should be blaming."

Winter hated how the meeting went down. It was less of a meeting and more of an ambush on Qrow. Everyone was so focused on what Qrow had done and what Qrow should be doing, it was as if they had completely forgotten the second person involved in Ivory's birth. Although Qrow didn't have to make such crude innuendo towards Ironwood, whatever Ironwood said to cause Qrow to snap like that was clearly crossing a line.

Winter prayed that her meeting with Qrow tonight would not turn into another nightmare.

#

Winter was waiting in her room, anxiously hoping for the hour to reach seven. After years of having to keep secrets from so many people, tonight was going to be Winter's chance to finally let everything out. She was afraid of telling Qrow the truth in case he truly was serious about never wanting kids; that fear was enough to keep Winter under her father's wraps to make sure Ivory's future wasn't jeopardized. But now that Qrow knew, there wasn't anything to hold Winter back.

As soon as seven o'clock hit, the door knocked. Winter quickly answered the door, and there stood the man that was either going to save or ruin Winter's life.

"Hey," said Qrow. "So how should we do this?"

"How else?" said Winter. "We sit down and talk."

Winter and Qrow went into the kitchen and took seats at the table.

"If we're going to talk," said Qrow, "might as well make this more comfortable."

As soon as Qrow took out his flask, Winter grabbed him by the wrist.

"What the hell?" asked Qrow.

"Not tonight, Qrow!" said Winter. "We're going to talk as two grown SOBER adults!"

"One drink is not going to ruin this."

"Please, for my sake and Ivory's sake, can you please not drink tonight? I want to hear from the real you, not the drunken asshole that keeps trying to get on the General's nerves."

"Fine," said Qrow, putting his flask aside. "Whatever helps get this over with."

"Thank you. If you want something cold, I have water in the fridge. If you want something warm, I have coffee brewing in the pot."

"No thanks. I hate coffee. Tastes like crap."

Winter poured herself a cup of coffee; it was more for having something warm in her hands to calm her nerves rather than for drinking.

"How do you want to start this?" asked Winter.

"I guess the first thing we should do is admit how we really feel about each other," said Qrow.

"Of course. Ahem... " Winter suddenly found it hard to get the words she wanted to say out.

"Maybe it's you that needs a drink."

"I'm fine! Okay...how I feel is..."

"It's not hard, ice queen. You either like me or hate me."

"I...don't hate you. As much disdain as I've shown over the years, there are parts of you that I...have respect for."

"So you like me?"

Winter soon found herself looking down at her coffee, not quite sure what to say to Qrow.

"I...like parts of your personality..."

"For God's sake ice queen, we're not going to get anywhere by dancing around these issues. Whatever pent up feelings you have for me, you need to let it all out."

"It's a bit complicated, all right?"

"Doesn't seem complicated to me. You either hate me, like me, or possibly even love me! Which is it?"

"It's all three!" said Winter, looking straight up at Qrow. "Don't get me wrong; there are things about you I absolutely despise! I hate your brutish tone, I hate your unkempt demeanor, and I especially hate how you disrespect my family. Yet at the same time, I admire you for your honesty, your carefree will, your skills in combat, and..."

"And what?"

"Please don't make me say it."

"I agreed to not drink on your behalf. The least you can do is not try to hide any more secrets than you already have."

Winter's face was now blushing. "I find you handsome. For better or worse, you are a man's man, and well...I can't help but feel physically attracted."

"Now was that so hard to do?"

As embarrassed as Winter was for her admitting her feelings to Qrow, she did feel like a heavy weight was lifted from her shoulders, and the nerves in her stomach were starting to subside.

"I guess not," said Winter. "I believe it's your turn to talk."

"I don't have much to say," said Qrow. "To be honest, I don't have any feelings for you. I mean, I'm not going to suddenly forget all the years of animosity between us, not to mention how I've been kept out of the loop about Ivory."

"So you don't love me in any way?"

"I respect what you do as an SO, but as a person, I don't myself attracted to you. Although...if you were more like the Winter I met ten years ago, I'd probably be thinking differently."

"Fair enough. I guess it would be asking too much for you to make such a sudden 180 like that."

"I'm glad we got that settled. Now we need to decide what to do with Ivory."

"Before we do that, I believe we have some other issues to sort out."

"And that is?"

"About her disability."

Qrow sighed and covered his face with his hands. The last thing he wanted to talk about was Ivory's supposed condition.

"Are we really going to go through with this again?" asked Qrow.

"Yes," said Winter, "because you clearly don't understand what she has."

"I'm telling you, she's not mentally disabled. If she were truly messed up in the head, she wouldn't be able to make such detailed drawings or talk like a normal human being."

"On the surface to you, Ivory seems normal, but she isn't. Her attention to detail is a positive side effect to the many negatives she has. She hates going out in public because of how afraid she gets of people she's not familiar with; she gets anxious and stressed too easily; she often only wants to talk about one or two things like her admiration for Pyrrha."

"Are you sure all of that came from a so-called 'disability,' or because she was raised by a terrible grandparent?"

"I didn't like the way my father raised Ivory either, but even then, I strongly believe Ivory does have Asperger's. Why won't you believe Ivory has a disability? Do you think she's 'just a kid' like my father did?"

"Because if you really think Ivory has something wrong with her, it's going to lead to something worse."

"And that would be?"

"An early grave."

Winter was taken aback by Qrow's statement. The last thing she expected Qrow to talk about was the possibility of Ivory dying.

"You know what happens to most people that get told they have something wrong with them? They get put on medication to control them, and then it turns out the medication makes it worse, the kid either gets addicted or loses their sanity, and then...it's too late. You realize by thinking Ivory has this so-called disability, you could be setting her down a path she cannot recover from?"

"You're telling me as if I've never done the research beforehand," said Winter. "That's why I invested so much of her time in art. It helps channel her focus, and it cuts down on how often she gets stressed or depressed without the need for such medication. I'm doing everything I can to make sure Ivory gets as normal of a life as possible."

"I know this sounds stupid, but just to make sure of myself...do you regret having Ivory?"

"No. Her birth was not under the best of circumstances, but I love that girl with all my heart."

"Do you regret having me as the father?"

"No. In fact, do you know what Ivory's middle name is?"

"What is it?"

A smile was forming across Winter's face. "It's Schwartz."

"Schwartz? Isn't that Atlesian for black?"

"It is. As much control as my father had over Ivory, I knew the one thing he couldn't control was what I can name her, so I decided to add a part of you to her name."

"You're that happy that I'm Ivory's father?"

"Yes. In fact, one of the symptoms of Asperger's is the person speaking without realization of context. In other words, Ivory will say whatever is on her mind no matter how inappropriate it could be. But sometimes I question whether it's a symptom, or she got it from you, and aside from a few embarrassing moments, I can't help but smile and think of you when she does so."

Winter placed her right hand over Qrow's, feeling his skin cool off her warm hand.

"Your down-to-Remnant honesty is why I believe you could be a good father to Ivory. You'll say some things that people will find inappropriate or offensive, but deep down, I believe you don't do it out of malice or just to be an asshole. I don't like your tough love style, but it's still love nonetheless. I'm not sure where Ivory and I will go from here, but whatever happens...can you be there for Ivory?"

Winter nervously waited for a response. Qrow turned away to look at the floor, as if contemplating on what he should say.

"Thanks for the compliment," said Qrow, "but if you really want Ivory to be raised properly...I can't be around her."

"What?" said Winter, not liking where Qrow was going with this. "What do you mean you can't be around her?"

"It means I'm not going to do it in Ivory's presence, but I'll help out in other any way you want me to."

Hearing Qrow try to worm his way out of his responsibilities, Winter stood up and slammed the table with her hands.

"That's unacceptable!" yelled Winter. "I am not going to let you walk out of our daughter's life!"

"I'm not walking out of her life!" said Qrow. "I'll pay you any amount of money you need. Just name me a figure."

"This isn't an issue about money! Ivory needs emotional support; she needs to know that her real father loves her! For all she knows, you can't stand to have her because of her disability!"

"Her disability is the least of the reasons I don't want to be around her!"

"Do you actually care about Ivory or not?"

"Well of course I care about her! I've barely gotten to know her, but she's my damn kid!"

"Then why are you refusing to be around her? Is it really because you can't handle her having Asperger's?"

"It's not her mental disability that's keeping me away from her. It's..."

Qrow turned back to the ground and clenched his teeth along with his fists. He knew the moment he entered this meeting that he was going to have to share some personal truths of his own, but it didn't make what he was about to say any easier.

"It's mine."

"Yours?" said Winter. "What-"

"I have PTSD."

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A mental disorder most commonly suffered by soldiers sent to battle, especially huntsmen. Winter had heard many stories of huntsmen who suffered from it, usually from seeing the devastation caused by the Grimm. It was the number one cause of a huntsman being no longer able to perform their job; the only other cause that came close was death. Being such a common occurrence with huntsmen, it was also easy for a lesser huntsman to fake the disorder to scam the kingdoms for an easy paycheck. Qrow didn't seem like a scam artist at all, but she found it hard to believe that a man who was always so confident and brazen could truly have such a disorder.

"Qrow, you better not be lying about this."

"Have I ever lied to you before, ice queen?"

"So if you don't mind me asking, how did you wind up with PTSD?"

"Remember my team photo?"

Qrow took out his photo and placed it between himself and Winter.

"From the right, there's me, my sister, my brother-in-law, and Summer Rose. Those nieces of mine? They're half-sisters. The older one's mother, my sister, walked out after she was born without a word, so he married Summer and they had the younger one."

"What happened to Summer Rose?"

"She's dead."

Winter suddenly began to hear something tapping the table. She looked at Qrow and noticed his right hand was shaking up and down like he was shivering.

"She...she died while on a mission. A mission...that I was also a part of."

Qrow's breathing started to get heavier, and his pupils were dilating as well. Something was wrong with Qrow.

"Qrow, are you okay?"

"By the time I found her, she was already dead. Her cloak was nearly covered in blood..."

"I understand, Qrow. You can stop now."

"I should have saved her. I should have prevented it from happening. She'd still be alive if only I had..."

"Calm down Qrow, I get it! You don't have to go further!"

Qrow's whole arm began to shake as Qrow started to freak out. Winter tried to get his attention, but Qrow appeared to be in a trance. Winter went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, quickly poured the contents into a cup, and splashed it into Qrow's face, snapping him out of his trance.

"I'm sorry," said Winter, "but you looked completely out of it."

"No apologies needed," said Qrow, calming himself down. Winter was beginning to understand why Qrow had lost it with the General, and why the day before he lashed out at Winter and Weiss.

"Just how bad does your PTSD extend? I assume it's more than just the shakes and lashing out."

"A lot more. Every now and then I'll have nightmares. The kind that make you wake up in a cold sweat, or turn your stomach inside out. What truly scares me is imagining what I might do to Ivory if I get triggered just a little too much."

"So that's why you don't want to be around Ivory; you're worried a PTSD fit gone wrong will result in harming her."

"It's more than just that though. When Summer died, my brother-in-law mentally shut down. After losing his second wife so quickly, he fell into a serious depression. He started to neglect his kids to the point where I had to be their father for a good while before he came back around. Those kids were also hit hard, especially the little one. She hardly got the chance to know Summer personally before suddenly losing her. Needless to say, that family went through some serious hardships, and I...I can't bear to let that happen to my own."

"And you call me the coward. Sounds like you're more scared of having a child than I was."

Winter decided to move her seat over to Qrow's side and sat in front of him.

"For much of my pregnancy, I was struck in Mistral, worrying day after day about what was going to happen to me and my daughter. I feared what were to happen if it was discovered I was having a child out of wedlock, or if the truth about her birth ever got out. But as scared as I was, I wasn't going to let my fears stop Ivory from being born."

"Easy for you to say," said Qrow. "You always have your rich father to fall back on. You've had a safety net since the day you were born. I don't have that luxury. I've got so many damn screws loose, what woman would be willing to put up with a broken mess like me?"

Winter grabbed Qrow's hand with both of hers, holding it tightly.

"This one," said Winter.

"C'mon now, do you really want to burden yourself with me?"

"If you're willing to do the right thing and be the father Ivory needs, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you get over your fears."

"I'm warning you ice queen; you're walking into what many would call a lose-lose situation."

"As a Special Operative, I've been in plenty of so-called lose-lose situations. This will simply be another challenge I will conquer. Do we have a deal?"

Qrow looked into Winter's eyes, and saw that determined look he always saw in their meetings. If there was one thing he did love about Winter, it was her confidence in taking on any mission she was assigned. Qrow lifted his free hand and placed it over hers.

"You have a deal."

"Thank you, Qrow," said Winter.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," said Qrow, getting up to leave.

"Qrow, wait."

"What now?"

"I feel lonely not having Ivory here. Could you...well...keep me company until things have worked out?"

"Winter, we can't do this. Not again."

"I'm not asking for sex, Qrow! Just...stay here tonight, please?"

"Fine, but I'm taking the couch."

#

In the basement of the White Fang hideout, the barkeep captured last night was tied to a chair, being interrogated by the White Fang Lieutenant. No matter what the Lieutenant asked, the barkeep refused to give him any information, resulting in several cuts and bruises to the face.

"I'll ask you one more time," said the Lieutenant. "There was a human you were talking to. Who were they?"

"Fuck you!" said the barkeep.

Seeing how the interrogation was going nowhere, Neo unsheathed her umbrella and took out her saber, motioning that was ready to slit the Faunus' throat and be rid of him.

"Not yet," said the Lieutenant. "We can't kill him until Adam says so. But there is one thing we can do."

The Lieutenant pulled out a piece of cloth and tied it around the barkeep's mouth to gag him, then grabbed his neck to keep his head from moving.

"Since he wants to sympathize with the humans, I say we help him look like one!"

Neo smiled at the Lieutenant's suggestion. Neo stood behind the barkeep and placed her saber near one of the barkeep's ram horns. The look of fear that the Faunus was giving off was like pleasure to Neo. Just as Neo took the first cut into the Faunus' horn, their fun was soon interrupted by their leader.

"What are you doing?" asked Adam.

"He refused to talk, sir," said the Lieutenant, "so I thought he was in need of a makeover."

"Let him be. He won't be serving a purpose for very long."

Neo sheathed her saber, disappointed that she wasn't going to have her fun.

"I've received some valuable intel from our sleeper agents. Take a look."

Adam took out his scroll and displayed a hologram of a photo sent to him. It showed the two Schnee daughters along with a third girl walking around the city.

"It's the Schnee girls," said the Lieutenant, "but who's the little one?"

"Ivory Schnee," said Adam.

"Really? There's a third Schnee girl?"

"From what I understand, she's not trained for battle like the other two. In other words, she's the easiest target to go after. We get a hold of her, and we can take down the entire Schnee empire. Worst case scenario is we get rid of one less Schnee."

"So when do we set off to capture her?"

"The sleeper agents will be keeping an eye out for any public sighting of her. Odds are she'll be guarded by her sisters. When the time is right, we'll strike them down and take the girl."

"But what about those robots they've got walking around?"

"We'll have an EMP ready to deal with them. Be prepared to set out tomorrow."

"Understood, sir."

#

Qrow was inside a crowded bar, drinking and laughing like he always did. He was enjoying himself until he was visited by Winter and Ivory.

"Daddy, I want to go home!" said Ivory.

"Daddy's busy drinking!" said Qrow. "Just wait outside until I'm done!"

"But daddy-"

"I said get lost, you stupid kid!"

"When are you going to stop?" asked Winter.

"When I feel like it, all right?"

"Don't you think you've had enough?"

"You're no fucking fun, ice queen! Beat it!"

Winter and Ivory soon disappeared from the bar. Qrow breathed a sigh of relief and continued drinking. The bar suddenly went quiet as Qrow heard someone yelling from outside.

"What the hell was that?"

Qrow put down his drink and stumbled outside. Off in the distance he can see the faint glow of two bodies lying on the ground. He ran over to check on them and was horrified by what he saw. The bodies were of Winter and Ivory, with huge slashes torn across their body, their eyes turned pure white and lifeless, pools of blood forming underneath their corpses.

"Oh God! Winter...Ivory...they're-"

"They're dead, Qrow."

Qrow suddenly looked behind him and suddenly saw Summer Rose, wearing her white hood as usual. She had the same slashes across her torso, her eyes being nothing more than empty voids.

"Summer?"

"You let them die, Qrow," said Summer. "Just like what you did to me. Why didn't you save them, Qrow?"

"Yeah Qrow," said a cold voice. "Why didn't you save us?"

Qrow turned back around and suddenly saw Winter standing back up, same slashes and missing eyes as Summer.

"But you were just outside!" said Qrow. "I didn't think you'd be in danger!"

"Not in danger?" said Summer. "Is that why you didn't save me either? Didn't you love me, Qrow?"

"Of course I did! But I didn't-"

"You don't love us!" said Winter. "That's why you let us die! That's why you'll let Ruby and Yang die!"

"No! I would never-"

"Tell us why, Qrow!" said Summer. "Tell us why you let us die!"

"But I didn't even...I didn't..."

The world around Qrow started to turn pitch black as the reanimated corpses of Summer and Winter approached Qrow. Qrow wanted to run away, but for some reason his body refused to move.

"Summer! Winter! I didn't mean to let this happen! I didn't...I didn't..."

With nowhere to run, Summer and Winter grabbed Qrow and forced him to the ground. Qrow can only scream as he was powerless to do anything to get them off him.

"Qrow, wake up!" shouted Winter, nudging Qrow in his sleep. Qrow suddenly opened his eyes and flailed his arms around. As he was regaining his breath, he looked around and realized he was back in Winter's hotel room.

"What happened?" said Qrow.

"I heard you talking in your sleep. You were constantly saying 'I didn't' and started sweating profusely. You had a nightmare, didn't you?"

"Yeah...a really fucked up one at that."

Qrow got up and quickly threw his clothes back on.

"Where are you going?" asked Winter.

"I'm too amped to sleep. I'm going to take a walk."

"Don't be long, okay?"

Qrow left the hotel room and checked the time on his scroll. It was about 1:30AM, which meant most of the bars around Vale would still be open for at least another hour. Then again, after that nightmare he had, the last place he wanted to be was at a bar. Since he wasn't going to be able to drink tonight, instead he decided to head to the roof of the hotel and looked out across the city, the street lights illuminating the roads as the AK-200s kept a watch for any suspicious people wandering the streets.

"Been a while since I tried this. Maybe an hour or so will help clear my head."

Qrow approached the edge of the roof and looked down to make sure the coast was clear. He leaned forward and started free falling to the ground, then turned into a crow and flew off into the city.


	7. A Parent's Worst Nightmare

With Winter occupied by her dilemma with Ivory, Ironwood was going over the latest security reports from his AK-200s scouting the city. So far, nothing suspicious was being reported. Ironwood took it as his security scaring the White Fang into hiding. As he went over the reports, he received a call from the President of the Schnee Dust Company.

"Hello Mister Schnee," said Ironwood. "I assume you want an update on how our security is handling things?"

"I was actually calling to know how Ivory is doing," said Schnee.

"She's perfectly fine, Mister Schnee."

"Have you made sure that Winter has kept to the agreement we made?"

"I assure you Mister Schnee, Winter has kept true to her word. Not a soul outside of you and me know the truth about Ivory."

"Perfect. Continue to monitor them closely. Considering the situation in Vale, I have a feeling Ivory's worthless father will be in town."

"Of course, Mister Schnee."

As soon as Schnee hung up, Ironwood let out a sigh of relief. Ironwood hated to lie to his closest business partner, but he knew the consequences Winter would suffer if her father found out that Ivory was now aware of who her real parents were. Telling Winter's father would only result in trouble for Winter and Ivory, unless Qrow suddenly proved to be father of the year material.

 _"Perhaps I should adopt Ivory as my own,"_ thought Ironwood.

#

The next morning, Weiss immediately headed to Team JNPR's dorm to check on Ivory. She was hoping that after a day of being away from Winter and comprehending the situation, Ivory will have calmed down and would be ready to go back to Winter, or at the very least, Ivory would talk to her family again. As Pyrrha answered the door, Weiss peaked inside JNPR's dorm; she saw Ivory reading a book with Jaune on one of the beds. At least she wasn't trying to hide this time.

"Good morning, Pyrrha," said Weiss. "How's Ivory?"

"She's doing better," said Pyrrha. "Although she still isn't comfortable about wanting to leave."

"Can you tell her I'm here so we can talk?"

"Ivory, it's Weiss! Don't you want to say hi?"

Ivory looked up to see Weiss at the door, then turned around to face the other way.

"C'mon Ivory," said Jaune, "I'm sure Weiss really misses you. Why not at least say hello?"

Jaune tried to put a hand on Ivory's shoulder, only for Ivory to smack his arm away. It seemed Ivory was only fine with talking to Pyrrha.

"Sorry there isn't more I can do," said Pyrrha.

"You're already a big help as is," said Weiss.

Weiss' scroll suddenly vibrated, indicating she got a message. She took her scroll out and looked surprised.

"What is it?" asked Pyrrha.

"It's Winter," said Weiss. "She says she's coming over and is going to take Ivory back with her."

Hearing Winter was going to arrive at Beacon, Team RWBY waited in the hallway for Winter's arrival. As soon as she saw her sister come in, Weiss ran up to Winter down the hall.

"Are you certain about this?" asked Weiss. "She wouldn't even talk to me this morning."

"I believe I have what it takes to end this melodrama," said Winter.

"I hope you do, ice queen."

Weiss looked past Winter and noticed Qrow walking behind her. Weiss could feel her blood boiling at just the sight of the man responsible for starting this chain of events in the first place.

"What is HE doing here?" asked Weiss.

"I'm here to get Ivory out of your neighbor's dorm," said Qrow.

"As if I'm going to let you anywhere near Ivory!"

"It's okay Weiss," said Winter. "I need him for this."

"So are you guys like an item now or what?" asked Yang.

"We've reached an understanding. Now if you excuse us, we're going to talk to Ivory by ourselves."

Team RWBY went back inside their dorm as Winter knocked on JNPR's door, which Pyrrha quickly answered.

"Good morning, Miss Schnee," greeted Pyrrha.

"Hello Miss Nikos," said Winter. "Is Ivory inside? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Come in."

Winter and Qrow went inside JNPR's dorm. Ren and Nora were out of the dorm, while Jaune stood in a corner to stay out of it. Ivory still sat at the edge of bed looking away from the door. When Ivory heard her parents were going to visit, she just sat at the bed refusing to talk or do anything. Winter and Qrow stood on the other side of the bed.

"Ivory, it's mommy," said Winter. "I know you're very upset. Myself, Weiss, and even your father is upset as well. But I promise if we all sit down and talk, we'll all feel a lot better, okay?"

Ivory remained silent, refusing to acknowledge a word Winter said.

"Now what's wrong with her?" asked Qrow.

"Ivory does this sometimes. After a meltdown, sometimes she'll refuse to say anything."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Relax. I'll think of something."

"It better be quick, because if the good parent approach gets us nowhere, I'm taking the bad parent one."

"Maybe I should try to talk to Ivory?" asked Pyrrha. "She doesn't have any problem talking to me."

"Yes...that might work! Pyrrha, can you tell Ivory that her parents are worried and they love her?"

"Okay."

Pyrrha went over to Ivory and bent down to tell her what Winter had said. Ivory leaned forward and whispered something to Pyrrha.

"What did she say?" asked Winter.

"Ivory thinks you don't love her because you didn't tell her the truth."

"Tell Ivory that I may have hid the truth, but it was never because I didn't love her."

Pyrrha repeated the statement to Ivory, who whispered something back to Pyrrha.

"Now Ivory," said Pyrrha, "I doubt-"

"What's wrong?" said Winter.

"Ivory says you didn't tell her the truth because she was a mistake who should never have been born."

"Ivory, that is not the truth at all! Your birth was unexpected, but it was not a mistake! I just couldn't tell you because..."

Getting frustrated this was going nowhere, Qrow pulled Winter aside to talk to her privately.

"Will you just her the truth already?" whispered Qrow.

"I can't," whispered Winter. "Qrow, you and I know my father is awful, but Ivory adores him! If she were to find out it's because of him we hid the truth from her, she'll never want to speak to any of us again!"

"Then what are we supposed to tell her?"

"Well...how about you apologize for doubting her disability?"

"Fine."

Qrow cleared his throat and approached Ivory from where she was sitting.

"Ivory, I know I said some-"

Qrow couldn't even get out his apology before Ivory suddenly turned around and sat at the other side of the bed so Qrow wouldn't be standing in front of her.

"Really Ivory? Is this how you're going to act?"

"Qrow, just say you're sorry already," said Winter.

"If I'm going to say sorry, I'm going to do it in front of her."

"Ivory," said Pyrrha, "your dad wants to say sorry. Don't you want to at least look at him?"

Ivory leaned over and whispered something to Pyrrha.

"What now?" asked Qrow, getting fed up with playing telephone with Ivory.

"Ivory thinks you're not being sincere about your apology."

"All right then. Bad parent approach it is."

"Qrow!" said Winter. "You better-"

"Listen you little brat. Your mother and I are trying to make things right and you acting like this is not going to help. For someone with a such high IQ for her age, you have no idea how to grow up. Is that part of your disability too?"

"Qrow! That was too far!"

"I'm not a man who holds back. Ivory, your mother and I have our differences, and we don't have the perfect relationship, but we both care about you, and it makes us sick to see you upset and refusing to talk to us. So how about you stop this little tantrum and speak to us like a grown up so we can work this all out?"

Pyrrha was about to speak to Ivory, until they heard Ivory mumbling something under her breath.

"What did you say?" asked Qrow.

"I said what do you care?" said Ivory, gritting her teeth and getting mad. "You don't really care about my disability! You don't understand how much I have to struggle!"

"I don't understand how much you have to struggle?"

Winter could see Qrow twitching one of his eyelids. Sensing he was going to lose his cool, Winter quickly went over and grabbed him by the shoulders. Qrow took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Listen Ivory," said Qrow. "The truth is I don't understand a lot about your disability. But from I do see, you're not as disabled as you believe. Whatever struggles you go through, they can't be as bad as you make them out to be."

"They are bad! You're just making fun of me for it!"

"Ivory, I'm not trying to make fun of you. I just think that maybe you need to stop acting like these 'struggles' are preventing you from having a normal life."

"But I can't have a normal life! No matter what I do or how I cope, I can never be normal! You don't understand what it's like to struggle with something out of your control!"

Ivory's last remark finally set Qrow off. Before Pyrrha or Winter could do anything, Qrow suddenly banged his fist against the wall. The bang was loud enough for the entire building to hear, and strong enough to leave a dent the size of a crater in the wall. Hearing Qrow bang against the wall caused Ivory to jump out of the bed. She turned around to see Qrow look enraged.

"Struggle with what?" yelled Qrow. "Being organized? Throwing tantrums like a baby? Yeah, real hard obstacles kid! That shit is difficult compared to having constant nightmares, depression, and shakes so bad that the only way to calm yourself is to down as much alcohol as you can stomach! Too bad you're not part of some rich family that can pay for all the best medical treatment in the world, instead of some old bastard who's too liable for any life insurance company to even think twice about giving him a policy to help his worthless ass!"

Seeing Qrow angry and loud caused Ivory to quickly hide under one of the beds, scared of what Qrow was going to do next. After venting his frustrations, Qrow realized that he pretty much blew whatever chance they had of getting Ivory to leave with them, and was probably going to make things worse by sticking around.

"I need to get out of here," said Qrow, quickly leaving JNPR's dorm.

"Qrow, wait!" said Winter, following Qrow.

Winter had tried to stop Qrow from leaving Beacon, but by the time she caught up to him outside the dorm, he had already morphed into a crow and took off.

"You better meet me back at the hotel!" shouted Winter.

Meanwhile, Team RWBY heard the commotion going on and saw Qrow and Winter suddenly leave. They went into their neighbor's dorm to find out what went wrong this time.

"What did that monster do now?" asked Weiss.

"He lost his with cool with Ivory," said Pyrrha.

"Of course he did! I bet that son of a bitch made fun of her disability again!"

"Hey now!" said Yang. "That 'SOB' is my Uncle you're talking about!"

"Well sorry Yang, but that's exactly what he is! Who does he think he is making fun of a child's disability?"

"Uncle Qrow would never do such a thing! At least...Pyrrha, please tell me he didn't really do that!"

"Well...," said Pyrrha, "he did say Ivory doesn't struggle as much as he believes she does."

"I'm not going to let him get away with this!" said Weiss, about to head off to find Qrow and Winter before Yang got in her way.

"Cool it, Weiss!" said Yang. "The last thing any of us need is you making this worse!"

"Your uncle is the one making it worse! Now I see why Winter never wanted Qrow to find out about Ivory! He's nothing but a foul-mouthed bum who should never be near children!"

"You don't know a God damn thing about him, ice queen! So I suggest you stop insulting him behind his back or else-"

"Girls, please!" said Pyrrha. "If you're going to argue, which you shouldn't be in the first place, at least don't do it with Ivory here!"

Weiss and Yang had been so caught up arguing with each other that it didn't occur to them that Ivory was listening to everything they were saying.

"We'll discuss this another time," said Weiss. "I'm going for a walk."

"I'll be in the gym," said Yang.

Both girls went off to vent their frustrations away from each other. Ruby felt sick to her stomach; it was bad enough Qrow and Winter couldn't settle their issues with Ivory, but now the family issues were spreading to her own team.

"Pyrrha?" said Ruby. "About Uncle Qrow...did he happen to mention anybody in particular?"

"Not that I recall," said Pyrrha.

"Okay. Let us know if Ivory gets better, okay?"

Ruby went back to her dorm, hoping to find something to settle her stomach. With their dorm now empty, Pyrrha went over to check on Ivory.

"Ivory, do you want to come out now?"

Ivory crawled out from under the bed, looking very upset.

"Pyrrha, why did my daddy yell at me like that?" asked Ivory. "Was I being a bad kid?"

"You did nothing wrong, Ivory. That man was just lashing out because of his personal issues."

"He said he was suffering from nightmares and depression. Is something wrong with him?"

"Even if there was, he shouldn't be taking it out on you."

"Or on our wall," said Jaune. "I think he nearly broke through to the other side!"

"If it's going to cost money to fix it," said Ivory, "I can pay for it!"

"It's fine, Ivory," said Pyrrha. "Like I said, you didn't do anything wrong."

"Pyrrha, tell me the truth! Did I really do something wrong?"

"No you didn't. Him getting mad is his own fault and no one else's."

Ivory wanted to believe Pyrrha, but Ivory had a lingering doubt that she was the one in the wrong. She remembered when she would overhear her grandfather scolding Winter and Weiss, and every time she asked what they were arguing about, he would always place the blame on them. If Qrow was yelling at Ivory, surely it had to be because she was being a bad child.

"Say, how about we do something fun?" asked Pyrrha. "What would you like to do?"

Ivory looked solemnly on the ground and shrugged her shoulders.

"You know what? How about I treat you to a special lunch? I'll take you anywhere you want!"

Ivory kept looking down not saying a word.

"How about noodles? Ever had a big bowl of noodles before?"

Ivory shook her head.

"Then I know just the place! I'll call Nora and Ren and we'll all go out for noodles, okay?"

Ivory just shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't in the mood to be doing anything, but if Pyrrha thought going out would cheer her up, she would at least give it a try.

#

To say that Winter was furious was an understatement. Their situation with Ivory didn't get better; in fact, it was likely now worse thanks to Qrow lashing out at Ivory. Winter went back into her hotel room, and to her surprise, Qrow was already there waiting for her.

"Look," said Qrow, "I know you must be pissed at me, and rightfully-"

Before Qrow can finish what he had to say, Winter walked right up to him and slapped him hard across the face.

"What the hell were you thinking?" yelled Winter. "Did you honestly expect yelling at Ivory like that was going to resolve anything?"

"Well you coddling her and trying to tiptoe around the truth wasn't working either! At some point, Ivory needs to learn what her grandfather is really like, and you need to stop treating her like a child!"

"She's nine! She IS a child, Qrow!"

"Even nine-year-olds know how to grow up and stop using temper tantrums to get things their way."

"But Ivory isn't like most children! Did you happen to forget about her disability?"

"Oh right, that so called aspy thing. If Ivory does have that, she's making it a bigger deal than she needs to! I'll admit I shouldn't have lost it the way I did, but my point still stands: Her 'struggles' are anything but."

"You know what your problem is? You keep trying to compare her disability to yours! Ivory may not have horrifying nightmares or traumatic flashbacks, but that doesn't make her struggles less valid than yours!"

"I'm sorry, but even I can't buy that bullshit. If you knew anything about the kind of shit people with PTSD go through, it would make Ivory's little tantrums seem tame. Winter, be honest with me; just how bad is Asperger's? In the grand scheme of things, is it really as bad as you and Ivory are trying to make it out to be?"

"I take it back; your real problem is how little you understand the seriousness of Ivory's condition. Sit down and listen up."

Qrow took a seat on the couch as Winter pulled up a chair and sat in front of him.

"Asperger's is a serious condition. You look at it as just a glorified case of autism, but one of the reasons it's a serious condition is because of how people like you dismiss it like nothing. When Ivory grows up, people are going to look at the way she behaves and just brush it off as acting childish or having typical feminine mood swings. Ivory's brain has to work twice as hard to take in every little piece of information we use our senses for; I can never leave Ivory to do things on her own because even the simplest of tasks can overwhelm her easily, and that kind of stress can lead to depression or worse."

"What do you mean worse?" asked Qrow. "You're telling me Ivory can die from this?"

"If Ivory doesn't have the proper support system like she does now, it can become a possibility."

Qrow buried his face in his hands and sighed. Winter didn't like the way Qrow was reacting.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"It's not that I don't believe you, but if it's that serious...Ivory is already done for."

"I said it was only a possibility. As you've said, Ivory has her family to support her, so I'm making sure the worst doesn't happen."

"Except look who she's related to," said Qrow, pointing at himself.

"What are you trying to say?"

"What bothers me about Ivory is she's using her disability as an excuse for her problems. The more she uses her disability as an excuse for her behavior, the more it starts to become a crutch, and when you rely on that crutch for too long, eventually you forget how to walk."

Qrow reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his flask. Rather than start drinking, he used it to stare into his reflection.

"Suddenly that crutch becomes a part of you, and no matter how times you try to get rid of it, no matter how many times you look in the mirror and promise yourself 'Today is the day I get rid of my crutch!'...you never do."

It became obvious to Winter that Qrow was talking about his love for drinking. Winter had her suspicions that Qrow might have an addiction, but she could never confirm it until he admitted to using it as his crutch.

"How long have you been using this crutch of yours?" asked Winter.

"About a week after Summer died. I just couldn't get over the nightmares that were haunting me all day and night, so I started drinking harder liquor. Eventually it calmed me down and help reduce my PTSD fits, but then I found myself drinking every time I got stressed, and when you work a job like mine, you get stressed very easily. Suddenly it wasn't just Summer's death that got me drinking, and now I drink just for the sake of drinking."

"So you think Ivory is going to do the same thing?"

"Every child grows up to be somewhat like their parents. Subconsciously or willingly, they'll copy their parent's behavior. If or when Ivory gets addicted to something they can't be cured of, I'm going to be the one responsible for her death...just like I was for Summer!"

There was that name again: Summer Rose. Her death appeared to be the root cause for Qrow's problems, from him not wanting a family to burden to triggering his fits.

"You loved that woman, didn't you?" asked Winter.

"Sure did," said Qrow. "Even though she fell for someone else, I never gave up my feelings for her. She was one of the best huntress' I ever met, and then one day...she was gone. I should have been there to save her. Instead, I only showed up to carry her corpse back home."

Qrow started to twist the cap off his flask. He was about to take a drink when Winter grabbed his wrist to stop him; she could already feel his arm start the shake.

"I don't know what really happened between you and Summer," said Winter, "but before we help Ivory, we're going to help you, and we're going to start by getting rid of this."

Winter tried to take the flask out of his hand, only for Qrow to pull back and resist giving it up.

"Not happening!" said Qrow.

"If you don't want Ivory to copy you, you need to stop using this crutch of yours! Please Qrow...for Ivory?"

As much as Qrow hated having to do it, he needed to do this for the sake of his child. Qrow stopped resisting and let Winter take his flask away. As Winter placed the flask at the other side of the room so Qrow couldn't grab it, his shaking was getting worse.

"Take a deep breath and calm down," said Winter.

"I can't keep calm," said Qrow. "Every time I remember that day about Summer, I just keep imagining her demise and I..."

Whenever Qrow started to remember about Summer, his mind would fill with images of the Summer he always saw in his nightmares: A white hood stained in blood, a face that looked to be decaying, and empty voids where her eyes should be. The horrific Grimm and the devastation they left behind didn't scare him as much as seeing Summer did. Qrow's face began to turn pale as his breathing became erratic.

"Qrow, tell me what's happening!"

"She's staring at me. She can't make a sound, but I can imagine her voice. She's asking me why I wasn't there. She's crying blood through her missing eyes, and then..."

Just like in his nightmares, that image of Summer would always approach Qrow and pin him down, hounding him as to why he let her die. Qrow got up from the couch to get his flask; Winter restrained him from reaching the other end of the room.

"Qrow, calm down! Control yourself!"

"I need to get that image out of my head!"

"Then try to think of something else! Try to remember who you're doing this for. Ivory, your nieces, their father..."

Qrow closed his eyes and tried to think of his family, but all of them were appearing the same way Summer did: As lifeless corpses he failed to save.

"I can see them too! They're all dead! I couldn't save them!"

"Qrow, none of them are dead! They're all still alive! I'm still alive!"

Qrow kept pushing against Winter, desperately wanting to get that flask. With Qrow getting out of hand, Winter held him down to the ground.

"Look at me, Qrow! None of your family are dead, do you hear me?"

Qrow opened his eyes and saw Winter positioned above him. He saw Winter turning into the same kind of corpse as Summer Rose. Fearing for his life, Qrow grabbed Winter by her jacket collar and threw her off himself, causing her to bump her head against the frame of the bed.

"Ow!" yelled Winter. Hearing Winter yell like that suddenly snapped him out of his delusion.

"Oh, fuck me!" said Qrow, getting up to check on Winter. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Winter. "I've been through worse pain than this."

"See what I meant when I said I've got too many screws loose? You sure you want to keep doing this?"

"If this is what it takes to make sure Ivory has a real father, then so be it."

#

Team JNPR took Ivory into the city and were eating at the "Simple Wok" noodle stand, with Ivory taking a seat shoulder to shoulder with Pyrrha. Ivory still had her blanket on like a cape and carried her Pyrrha doll with her. While the team were enjoying their noodles, Ivory simply stared at her bowl and was mixing the noodles around with her utensils.

"Do you need help, Ivory?" asked Pyrrha.

"I don't feel like eating," said Ivory.

"But eating will cheer you right up!" said Nora. "Especially these delicious noodles!"

"You don't have to eat if you don't want to," said Pyrrha. "We can go back to Beacon or do something else in the city, okay?"

"I'm sorry!" said Ivory, starting to cry. Pyrrha wrapped an arm around Ivory's shoulders to calm her down.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Ivory. It's okay to still be upset about what happened."

"So he really went crazy and tried to punch through the wall?" said Nora. "Sounds like he's got issues!"

"But why does he have these issues?" asked Ivory.

"You don't need to worry about that, Ivory," said Pyrrha.

"But Pyrrha, I am worried! Remember when you told me about not judging books by their cover, and how people hide the truth sometimes because it can upset people? Do you think my dad is pretending to be mean because he's really upset about something?"

"Even if there is something bothering him, he shouldn't try to cover it up by being mean to you."

"You know," said Jaune, "from the way he sounded, I swear that guy has some kind of PTSD."

"It's possible," said Ren. "I've read many veteran huntsmen wind up suffering some form of it down the line."

"What's PTSD?" asked Ivory.

"You're too young to understand," said Pyrrha.

"I want to know!"

"It's complicated, Ivory."

As everyone went back to eating their noodles, Ren started to sense something going on around them. He listened carefully to the background noise and heard people gasping and running away as someone, or rather a group, was approaching them. Ren took his chopsticks and started tapping the tips on the counter, sending a coded message to the rest of his team. Pyrrha heard Ren's message and looked to her sides to make sure Jaune and Nora all knew what was happening. They both nodded and went back to eating their noodles, pretending like they were unaware of the people waiting behind them. Pyrrha used her semblance to grab a hold of all the metal utensils lying on the other side of the booth. Ren slowly tapped his chopsticks twice; on the third tap, Team JNPR ducked as Pyrrha quickly lifted the utensils up and launched them at the people standing behind them.

The person leading the group took out his katana and swatted all the utensils away in lightning fast succession. Team JNPR turned around to face the group stalking them; they all wearing masks similar to the Grimm; their leader was wearing a black trench coat and different style mask.

"That's quite a skill you've got there," said Adam, sheathing his katana.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" asked Pyrrha.

"We're here for the girl."

Ivory turned around and got frightened the moment she saw Adam's mask, and clung tight around Pyrrha's arm.

"It's the White Fang!" said Ivory. "These are the filthy criminals that always attack humans!"

"Give up the girl and we'll let you live," said Adam, "Otherwise we'll have to kill you."

"You're not getting anywhere near her!" said Pyrrha.

"All right!" said the Lieutenant, bringing out his chainsaw blade. "I've been itching for a fight!"

"Pyrrha, I'm scared!" said Ivory.

"Everything's going to be fine, Ivory," said Pyrrha. "I'm not going to let these monsters take you!"

"Freeze!" shouted a nearby AK-200. "Under orders of the Atlas Military, you are under arrest!"

Adam looked around and found himself and the White Fang suddenly surrounded by the AK-200s, all pointing their guns at the White Fang.

"Looks like you're outnumbered," said Pyrrha.

"Hmph," replied Adam. Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out an EMP switch. He pressed the button on the switch and suddenly all the AK-200s short-circuited and fell to the ground, rendering them useless. With the robots taken care of, the White Fang pulled out their swords and got ready to ambush Team JNPR.

"Attack!" commanded the Lieutenant. Pyrrha quickly used her semblance to freeze everyone's weapons in place.

"Jaune, take Ivory and head back to Beacon as quickly as you can!" said Pyrrha.

"Right!" said Jaune. "C'mon Ivory!"

Jaune grabbed Ivory's hand and ran down the street. As soon as Jaune got some distance, Pyrrha let go of everyone's weapons. Nora and Ren focused on fighting the Lieutenant and the rest of the White Fang, while Pyrrha had her eyes set on Adam.

"You might actually be worth a challenge," said Adam, taking out his katana and getting into his fighting stance.

While his friends kept the White Fang distracted, Jaune and Ivory kept running. Jaune thought him and Ivory were in the clear until Jaune suddenly bumped into an open umbrella. Behind the umbrella was a strange girl with a sinister smile on her face. Whoever she was, she definitely didn't appear to be an ally.

"Another White Fang crony, huh?" said Jaune. "Ivory, run and hide!"

Ivory ran off to hide in a nearby alley as Jaune got out his shield and sword. Neo closed her umbrella and looked up to Jaune, smiling like she wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

 _"Her smile gives me the creeps! But she can't be that tough!"_

Jaune swung down at Neo, only for Neo to hook his sword with her umbrella and push it aside. Neo kicked Jaune in the chest, which surprisingly hurt quite a bit even with his armor on. Jaune blocked Neo's next kick with his shield then tried to swing across, only for Neo to suddenly bend backwards and completely avoid Jaune's sword. Jaune tried to swing down again only for Neo to suddenly open her umbrella and block Jaune's sword. Jaune pushed downward with more force, but Neo's umbrella felt like it was made of steel as Jaune could barely move. Neo then closed her umbrella which caused Jaune to trip and fall flat on his face. Neo backed away and stood still, gesturing for Jaune to take another swing at her.

"Enough games!" said Jaune, getting up and charging for Neo. Jaune swung at Neo with all his might, only for Neo to suddenly break apart like glass and disappear.

"What the...where is she?"

Jaune looked around trying to find Neo, but she didn't appear to be anywhere in sight. Jaune held up his shield, his body tensing up wondering when Neo was going to pop back up. Jaune suddenly felt the tip of the umbrella poking behind him; Jaune quickly turned around and lunged his sword forward, only to find nothing but an umbrella lying by his feet.

As Jaune stared at the umbrella wondering what just happened, Neo suddenly appeared to his left and rammed her foot straight into Jaune's kneecap, causing the joint to be separated. Jaune screamed in pain from his leg being shattered, then Neo lifted her leg up and swiftly kicked Jaune in the back of the head, knocking him out.

"Jaune!" yelled Ivory, running out to check on Jaune. Before Ivory can reach Jaune, Neo suddenly appeared in front of Ivory, forming a sinister smile.

Meanwhile, despite only having a sword, Adam was fast enough to use it as both an offensive and defensive weapon; Pyrrha could barely keep up with his speed. Pyrrha backflipped away from Adam to avoid his swing, then changed Miló into its rifle mode and fired several shots at Adam, who simply held his katana across and blocked all the shots. Pyrrha noticed his blade and his eyes glowing brighter with every shot blocked and realized he was absorbing the damage to build up his aura. As soon as Adam had built up enough aura, he quickly charged for Pyrrha and swung for her head. Pyrrha held up her shield and used her polarity to make the katana and shield magnetically attracted to each other. With his blade stuck to Pyrrha's shield, Pyrrha kicked Adam back to separate themselves.

"Not bad for a human," said Adam. "However, this ends now."

"I'm just getting started," said Pyrrha.

"PYRRHA! HELP!"

Team JNPR stopped fighting and turned to see Neo holding Ivory by one of her wrists and holding the blade coming out of the tip of her umbrella close to Ivory's neck.

"If you don't want to see the girl harmed," said Adam, "lay down your arms and surrender."

"Do what you want to us," said Pyrrha, "but don't you dare lay a hand on her!"

"You're in no position to talk, human. Now lay down your weapons!"

Having no other choice, the three of them put down their weapons and raised their arms in surrender.

"What kind of monster are you?" asked Pyrrha. "How could you think of harming an innocent child?"

"How?" said Adam, his eyes and blade glowing bright red. "Because she's a Schnee!"

Adam suddenly charged past Team JNPR and swung his blade once across the air. The team all suddenly felt their auras completely drained and collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Mind if I finish them off?" asked the Lieutenant.

"Don't," said Adam. "I need them alive so they can deliver our message to the Schnees."

Adam took out a scroll and left it by Pyrrha's body. As he bent down, he noticed Pyrrha carrying something in her sash. He reached down and pulled out a doll that looked like her.

"That's my doll!" said Ivory. "Give it back!"

"Your doll, huh?" said Adam. Adam gripped the doll with both hands and ripped it apart. Seeing her doll destroyed caused Ivory to lose it.

"YOU BROKE MY DOLL!" yelled Ivory, suddenly breaking out of Neo's grip and running up to Adam. Ivory tried to bash Adam's legs, but her weak arms could do nothing. Adam picked up Ivory by her collar and lifted her up to make eye contact.

"I've always wanted to do this to a Schnee."

Adam threw Ivory into the front of the noodle stand. Ivory's head bumped hard into the front counter, and when landing back on the concrete, she scraped her hands and knees, causing one of the knees to start bleeding. Ivory started crying in pain until Adam drew out his katana and pointed it right near Ivory, scaring her into remaining silent.

"It's time to make our leave."

#

After Weiss and Yang had cooled off from their morning argument, the Team RWBY dorm was now relatively peaceful. Weiss was informed by Pyrrha that they were going to treat Ivory out to lunch, and was anxiously waiting to hear from her again.

"I texted her an hour ago!" said Weiss. "Pyrrha usually responds right away! Something must have happened!"

"Relax Weiss," said Yang. "Maybe Ivory is such a handful, Pyrrha hasn't found the time to respond."

"That must be it," said Weiss. "I hope that's it. It's killing me not being around her."

Ruby's scroll started ringing. Ruby checked to see who was calling her.

"Who is it?" asked Yang.

"It's Jaune," said Ruby.

"He must be updating us about Ivory," said Weiss. "Answer it!"

"All right already!" said Ruby, answering her scroll. "Hey Jaune! How's...huh? What do you mean they...?"

"What's going on?" asked Weiss. "Did something happen to Ivory?"

The room went awkwardly silent as Ruby was trying to understand what Jaune was saying.

"Um...Weiss?" said Ruby, sounding afraid. "Ivory's been..."

"What happened to Ivory?" yelled Weiss, grabbing Ruby by the collar of her hood.

"She was kidnapped by the White Fang!" blurted Ruby.

While the others were shocked to hear Ivory getting kidnapped, Weiss could barely comprehend what Ruby had said, and suddenly fainted to the floor.

#

Team RWBY were in Ozpin's office along with Winter, Qrow, and Ironwood. All of them were waiting for Team JNPR to arrive and explain what happened. Winter was pacing back and forth across the room, trying her best to not suddenly have a nervous breakdown. Weiss looked like she was about to have one any second now.

"How could this have happened?" said Winter. "We had those robots posted all over the place!"

"They must have used some kind of EMP on them," said Ironwood.

"Are you telling me my niece got kidnapped because your damn robots broke to an EMP?" yelled Weiss.

"Calm down, Weiss!" said Yang. "This situation sucks, but freaking out about it is what they want us to do!"

"You're one to talk! It's not your family member that's being taken hostage by those monsters!"

"Hey now, Ivory IS a family member, remember? You don't think I'm just as pissed about this as you are?"

Weiss tried to think of a response, but she was so distraught she could barely form a coherent sentence. Weiss fell to her knees and started crying. Yang walked up to her and gave her a tight hug to try and calm her down.

"Ivory is going to be okay. I'll make damn sure of it."

The elevators doors finally opened and out came Team JNPR. Jaune was the last one off the elevator, clinging to his crutches as he stepped forward; his left leg was nearly completely wrapped in a cast. The team stood in front of Ozpin's desk.

"Thank you for coming Team JNPR," said Ozpin. "Please, tell us everything you can about the assailants."

"It was the White Fang," said Pyrrha, "but three of them in particular stood out. One of them appeared to be their leader. He wielded a katana and was able to break through our auras with just one strike."

"Adam Taurus," said Blake.

"You know him?" asked Ruby.

"He used to be my mentor, until he became a monster."

"The Atlas Military and the SDC are quite familiar with that man," said Ironwood. "He's lead several terrorist attacks against us. We've been trying to apprehend that man for years, but he always finds a way to slip through us."

"Who were the other two?" asked Ozpin.

"This other guy was even bigger!" said Nora. "He had to be like ten feet tall and he was swinging this huge chainsaw sword looking thing like it was nothing!"

"He was more like seven feet tall," said Ren, "but he was surprisingly agile and strong."

"That's their Lieutenant," said Blake. "He's almost as psychotic as Adam."

"They're nothing compared to that little freaky girl!" said Jaune. "I mean look what she did to my leg!"

"Little freaky girl?" asked Yang. "Let me guess: About yay high, carries an umbrella, and looks like a walking ice cream sundae?"

"That's her! Who was she?"

"She has ties to Roman and the others. She may be small, but she's deceptively strong."

"Did any of them tell you why they came after you?" asked Ozpin.

"Their leader wanted Ivory," said Pyrrha. "He said it was because she was a Schnee. He had no qualms about hurting her. After he knocked us all out, when I woke up, I found this in my pocket."

Pyrrha pulled out the scroll Adam left for them and handed it to Ozpin.

"Why would they leave a scroll?" asked Ruby.

"It's a ransom," said Qrow. "The White Fang have Ivory hostage and are going to use that scroll to tell us their demands."

"I'm sorry to have let this happened," said Pyrrha.

"I'm sure you and your team did everything to the best of your ability," said Ozpin. "Go back to your dorm and rest. We'll take everything from here."

The team nodded and headed out of the office. Along the way out, Jaune noticed Weiss holding her arms and trying to keep herself together. It made Jaune sick to see Weiss this upset, especially when he felt he caused it by failing to protect Ivory.

"Weiss, I'm so, so sorry about Ivory!" said Jaune. "It's my fault Ivory was-"

"Save it, Jaune," said Weiss. "This is all my fault! I should have never let Ivory out of my sight!"

"You did all you could," said Blake. "Quite frankly, your team is lucky to be alive after confronting Adam."

"Listen," said Jaune, "if there's anything I can do, I want to-"

"That's quite enough, Mister Arc," said Ozpin. "You need to recover from your injuries."

Jaune left the room with the rest of his team. A few minutes later, the scroll given to Ozpin went off.

"I'll answer it," said Winter. "It's my company and family he's after."

"I think it's best if we all see the call, Miss Schnee," said Ironwood.

Ironwood set up the scroll to display the call for everyone to see. Once the setup was complete, Winter answered the call. The scroll cut to a video feed of Adam standing front and center.

"This call goes out to the Schnee family and the Board of Directors of the Schnee Dust Company. Your family and company have instigated the continued discrimination against the Faunus. From your business practices that exploits Faunus slave labor, to supplying weapons of war for those who choose to eradicate Faunus. You call us the monsters, yet you are responsible for the deaths and suffering of millions. That will all come to an end!"

The person holding the scroll panned to the side and showed Neo and the Lieutenant standing behind Adam. In between the two was Ivory, her wrists tied up in front of her and her mouth gagged tight with a thick piece of cloth wrapped around her head, shaking in fear from what was going on.

"Let her go!" yelled Winter. "If you want a hostage, you can take me instead!"

"You are not making any negotiations!" said Adam. "Our demands are simple. If you want her back alive, the Schnee Dust Company must shut down immediately. You will surrender all of the company's assets to the Faunus, and the head of the company himself must face trial under Faunus Law."

"Faunus Law?" asked Ruby. "Is that a thing?"

"Only in his warped mind," said Blake.

"Now I will demonstrate what will happen if our demands aren't met," said Adam. "Bring him in!"

Two grunts came and dragged out someone whose head was covered in a hood and their hands tied behind their back. They positioned the person on their knees and removed the hood, revealing the person to be the barkeep that Qrow had met a couple of nights ago. The barkeep's face had several dried-up cuts and bruises; he was screaming to be let go but was gagged much like Ivory.

"Oh son of a bitch," said Qrow.

"Who is this man?" asked Winter.

"This man is a Faunus who didn't believe in the White Fang's message," said Adam. "Faunus like him who claim to remain neutral are as guilty as the humans who oppress us. This is what happens to those who do not support the White Fang!"

As soon as Adam unsheathed his katana, Qrow knew exactly what he was going to.

"Yang!" shouted Qrow.

"Right!" said Yang. Yang quickly grabbed Ruby and turned her around so they didn't have to see what was about to happen.

The barkeep screamed for mercy but it was no use as Adam lined up his sword and took one wide swing. The barkeep suddenly stop screaming as his eyes were starting to go blank. A thin line of blood soon formed around his neck, and a few seconds later, the head detached itself and fell off the body. Weiss turned away to avoid seeing the man getting beheaded, but still felt like she was about to throw up. She can only imagine how Ivory must be feeling if she was forced to witness this barbaric atrocity.

"You have twenty-four hours to give notice of your confirmation to our demands," said Adam. "There will be no negotiations. If we don't receive your notice, I will do to the girl what I did to this man. And in case you think I'm bluffing..."

Adam turned around and walked towards Ivory, who was looking scared out of her mind that Adam was going to hurt her.

"Hey!" said Qrow. "We get it! You don't need to demonstrate on the girl!"

Adam ignored Qrow and raised his sword up, then brought it down so that only the very tip of the sword touched Ivory. The tip went down Ivory's right side of her face, leaving a thin cut that went over her eye. Ivory started screaming and crying from the pain of the cut.

"Lieutenant, do you mind?" asked Adam.

"My pleasure!" said the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant smacked Ivory hard across the face with a backhand, causing Ivory to fall to the floor and leaving a noticeable bruise on her face. Ivory suddenly stopped screaming, fearing that making any more noise would cause them to inflict more pain. With Ivory knowing her place, Adam turned back to the camera.

"And if you attempt to come after us, I will kill her immediately. You have twenty-four hours."

Adam ended the call. Everyone in that office was furious for what Adam did to Ivory. Winter gripped her fists, trying not to lose it in front of everyone.

"That no good...son of a..."

Winter was about to grab the scroll when she was suddenly beaten to the punch by Qrow, who grabbed the scroll and threw it against the wall, shattering the scroll to pieces. Qrow looked as if he was going to foam at the mouth and go crazy.

"Uncle Qrow?" said Ruby. "Are you-"

"I am going to cut that mother fucker's hands off and shove them down his fucking throat!" said Qrow.

"We all want to go after him Qrow," said Ironwood, "but we need to think this through!"

"What's there to think? I'm going to find out where him and those other fuckers are hiding, and I am going to send them all six feet under!"

"And how exactly are you going to find him? You have no idea where to start, Qrow! I'll have my men sweep Vale and search for a lead!"

"James is right," said Ozpin. "This is a very delicate situation. We can't rush in without a plan."

"Sorry Oz," said Qrow, "but I'm not waiting. You do things your way, I'll do things my way!"

"And we'll come along too!" said Ruby.

"Not this time, kiddo! None of you are going anywhere. The White Fang are too dangerous for you to handle. I'll be doing this alone."

Qrow was about to head out the door when he was grabbed by Winter.

"Oh no you won't," said Winter, "because I'm coming with you!"

"But Miss Schnee!" said Ironwood. "We have to-"

"I'm sorry General, but this is my daughter we're talking about! If Qrow finds a way to locate them, I'm going to be there to take her back myself!"

"You're not coming along either," said Qrow. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you should listen to James and stay here."

"Excuse me? What the hell gives YOU the right to tell me whether I'm going?"

"It's for your own good, ice queen!"

"My own good? My daughter is being taken hostage by a bunch of monsters and is no doubt scared to death out there, and you expect me to just stay here and do nothing? I am a top class Special Operative! I don't care how dangerous that Adam Taurus man is! I'm coming with you whether you like it-"

Qrow suddenly grabbed Winter by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall.

"Listen to me!" said Qrow. "This isn't about whether you can handle the White Fang or not! Hell, you probably could hold your own against them!"

Qrow's arms were shaking as he looked down on the ground. He remembered the last time he went out on a mission with someone more than capable of handling their own; it resulted in a day that changed his life forever.

"But on the off chance that something was to happen..."

He could never forget the faces his family made that day. The look of disbelief from Taiyang and the tears that poured out of little Yang and Ruby's eyes was something not even ten plus years of drinking was ever going to erase from his mind.

"If I have to tell another little girl that her mother is never coming back...because I failed to do what I was supposed to do..."

Qrow's voice started to crack at the mentioning of having to do the worst thing he's ever done in his life. Ruby was starting to tear up as well; she hated seeing Qrow constantly blame himself for her mother's death. Winter placed her hand underneath Qrow's chin and slowly lifted his head up, looking into his eyes he was desperately trying to stop from making tears.

"I am not going to let my worst nightmare come true."

Winter placed her hands around Qrow's face and wiped the tears away with her thumbs.

"And neither will I," said Winter.

"I'm coming along too," said Blake. "I know Adam and the White Fang better than anyone else."

"Me too!" said Yang. "Ivory is my family, and NOBODY messes with my family!"

"Same here!" said Weiss.

"And you can't have a team mission without its team leader!" said Ruby.

Qrow let go of Winter and turn to his nieces and her teammates.

"You four realize this is a mission you might not make it back alive from?" asked Qrow.

"Hasn't stopped us before," said Ruby, "and it won't stop us now!"

"All right then, fam. Let's go rescue Ivory!"


	8. The Rescue Mission (Part 1)

**A/N: Sorry about the longer than usual delay of the latest chapter. The past couple of months were pretty crazy between personal stuff I needed to do, having some trouble writing parts of this chapter, feeling ill at times (I hate the Winter season; ironic don't you think?), and playing Zelda.**

 **I appreciate your follows/favorites/reviews! Enjoy this incredibly long chapter.**

 **EDIT 4/20: After getting some negative reviews to the original ending of the chapter with the Qrow and Adam fight (** **and to be honest, now that I thought about how I set it up, it was pretty bad), I've decided to scrap the fight until I can write something better. I'll either add it back to this chapter or use it as part of Chapter 9.**

* * *

Ivory was locked up in a small room that used to be an office inside of an abandoned warehouse, with two guards posted outside to make sure she kept quiet. With Pyrrha being taken out instantly, Ivory had little hope that she was going to be rescued. The only people that could possibly save her now would her parents and RWBY, but if Pyrrha didn't stand a chance against their leader, what good would anyone else be?

Ivory wanted to roll around and scream, but she knew if she did that, one of the guards would come in and beat her. Ivory reached over behind her and took off her blanket that she had been wearing like a cape, but it did little good to comfort her. She tried to use her imagination to think of how the great hero Pyrrha Nikos would get out of this situation, but it was hard to imagine Pyrrha doing anything after Ivory witnessed her being defeated. There was nothing Ivory could do now but cry into her blanket and hope that somebody was coming to save her.

Outside her prison, the two guards were chatting about Ivory.

"Did you see what the boss did to that little Schnee girl?"

"Yeah. Wish I could have done that myself. Maybe we should keep her around to torture her instead of killing her."

"I'm with you, but the boss insists we have to kill her."

"That sucks. Hey, is it true she's also got one of those brain disorders?"

"That's what the word going around is."

"Man, between her and that mute weirdo, I can't believe the humans think WE'RE the freaks!"

"I hear that!"

The guards were laughing until they suddenly saw a certain mute weirdo standing right in front of them, holding a tray of bread and water. Neo look annoyed at the two cracking jokes at her expense; if she wasn't holding that tray right now, she'd have them bleeding dry by now.

"The hell are you doing here? Bringing us dinner?"

"That's a pretty crappy dinner if you ask me."

Neo pointed to the door they were guarding, indicating it was meant for their prisoner.

"Are you kidding me? Now we have to feed the little bitch?"

"A human doesn't deserve to eat this good."

One of the guards tried to snatch the bread; Neo quickly pulled the tray away. She pointed at the guard and made the slit throat gesture with her thumb; Neo was ordered to give the hostage nourishment so she didn't suddenly die on them, and Neo was going to be damned if she had to hear Adam chew her out over this because a couple of goons were messing with her.

"Fine, we'll let you in," said the guard, unlocking the door and opening it for Neo. As Neo walked in with Ivory's food, one of the guards tripped Neo by her foot, causing her to drop the tray and its contents to the floor. Ivory quickly moved back to avoid getting hit with the water that spilled all over the floor. The guard closed the door and laughed at making Neo trip. Neo growled and made a note to herself to kill these two mutts after all this was done.

As Neo was trying to pick up the pieces of bread that dropped out, Ivory noticed the look on Neo's face that showed how annoyed she was with the guards. Ivory had listened to the guards laugh at Neo and make fun of her; despite being on the same side, they didn't seem to get along with each other. Ivory remembered business advice her papa told her about the importance of finding the right partners to further your business. If Neo and the White Fang didn't like each other, maybe Ivory could convince Neo to turn against them. It would be Ivory's chance to break out of her prison.

After Neo was done salvaging whatever clean bread she could, she undid Ivory's mouth gag so she'd be able to eat and got up to leave.

"Wait!" said Ivory. "I need to ask you something!"

Neo rolled her eyes and turned around. She had no reason to listen to their hostage, but she decided to stay and amuse the kid.

"You're not able to talk, are you?"

Neo shook her head. Where was this kid going with this?

"I have a disability too. It may not seem apparent, but I know how it feels to struggle with something out of your control."

Neo rolled her eyes again and turned to leave. She wasn't in the mood to hear a "feel good" lecture about being handicapped.

"I also know how it feels to be treated like the black sheep of the herd."

Neo grabbed the knob and was going to turn it until Ivory made that black sheep comment. Suddenly she was interested to see where the kid was going with this.

"Those guards made fun of your disability and they made you trip when coming in here. I bet everyone in the White Fang treats you like that. If this is the way they treat you, why should you work for them? What if you were in my situation and you got captured by some enemies keeping you hostage? Would any of them care if you were to disappear without a trace? Would they go out of their way to save you?"

Now Neo understood what Ivory was trying to do. Neo let go of the doorknob and turned back to Ivory. Neo took out her scroll and quickly typed up a message to speak to Ivory.

"I know what you're trying to do kid," typed Neo. "Yeah, it's true I get treated like shit by these filthy mutts, but I'm getting paid quite a lot of money to put up with it. Even if the money wasn't worth it, you don't have anything of value for me to help you out."

"I understand," said Ivory. "You're a mercenary. In the end, you're doing this for money."

"You're pretty smart for a little girl. So how are you going to convince me to let you out of here?"

"I have just the thing to interest you." Ivory tried to reach around to her pocket, but couldn't because of her hands being tied together. "Um, could you reach into my pocket please?"

Neo sighed and decided to give Ivory a hand. Neo reached into Ivory's pocket and pulled out a debit card with the Schnee company logo on it.

"Papa gave me this emergency card connected to my account containing five million lien. It's all yours if you can help me find a way out."

Neo eyes widened a bit upon hearing that number. She probably could get a bigger cut if the Schnee family were to surrender to the White Fang, but five million wasn't exactly chump change, and after the insults she heard the animals make behind her back - especially about not being able to talk - she was in the mood to make them permanently silent. Neo smiled and placed the card in her own pocket.

"Now you're speaking my language," typed Neo.

#

Qrow, Winter, and Team RWBY were being escorted through the city of Vale in an Atlas military armored truck. It was Ironwood's way of helping them out, though Qrow would have preferred to travel in a regular vehicle to keep a lower profile. They were on their way to meet with someone who supposedly had information on the White Fang's recent activities. As they traveled to the location, Qrow decided now was a good time to ask Blake about what she knew about Adam.

"Anything useful you can tell me about him?" asked Qrow.

"Adam is very ruthless," said Blake. "If he plans on killing you, he won't rest until he gets it done. As you've seen, he has no qualms killing anyone who gets in his way."

Blake gripped her fists; she hated herself for once looking up to Adam like he was a hero, a mentor to be admired and followed.

"I used to think he was better than this, but he's nothing more than-"

"Look," said Qrow, "sorry he wasn't the man you thought he was, but I need you to put aside the emotional crap and get to the point."

Blake took a deep breath and regained her usual stoic composure.

"Right," said Blake. "His specialty lies with his weapon. He uses it to absorb any kind of attack; the more damage he absorbs, the stronger he can release it right back. Keep an eye on how bright his weapon glows."

"So I should watch out for his counter attacks. Good to know."

"We've arrived," announced the driver.

The six of them got out and went up to what appeared to be a dilapidated building. Just the look of the dirty and poorly constructed exterior made Winter feel uncomfortable.

"What is this place?" asked Winter.

"It's a nightclub," said Yang. "The guy who runs it is Hei Xiong, or 'Junior' as he's known around here. If there's major criminal activity going on in Vale, odds are he knows what's up."

"This does look like the kind of place lowlifes would love to hang out in," said Qrow. "Let's see what he knows."

Inside the club was the usual scene of loud rave music blaring in the background while the club's few patrons occupied the dance floor. Business was getting slow with the rumors of White Fang activity going on nearby, not to mention Atlas having their military overlooking Vale meant very few of Vale's criminal underground wanted to make their faces known in such a public area, even in a seedy place like this one. Junior was behind the bar as usual when one of his men came running up to him.

"Um, sir?" said one of the henchmen. The look of worry on the man's face could only mean one thing; Junior's "favorite" customer had returned.

"I'll take care of it," sighed Junior, putting his glass away and heading to the front entrance where blondie and her crew were waiting. He knew it was going to be a bad night when blondie was around, and this time it looked like she brought her entire entourage with her. Junior went up to the group, massaging his forehead for the headache he was about to get.

"Blondie, I swear to God if you're here to ask for information-"

"I'M asking for information!" said Winter, stepping in front of the group. "Winter Schnee, Atlas Military Special Operative!"

"And that's supposed to impress me?" replied Junior. It went without saying that law enforcement of all kinds were not welcome in his establishment.

"Listen bottom feeder! We've been told you know a thing or two about the White Fang! You had better provide us with information or else I can have the entire military in here to shut you down!"

"Yeah, you go ahead and try that. I'm sure THAT won't cause an international incident."

"Do you realize who you're talking to?" asked Weiss. "WE are part of the Schnee Family!"

"And I'M a registered member of the Vale Bartenders Union."

"What does THAT have to do with anything?"

"About as much as your name means here."

"Listen Junior!" said Yang, cocking her fist and just anxious to take the first shot. "We're on a time crunch and we know you know something! So how about you cooperate before we-"

"Stop!" suddenly yelled Qrow. "All of you just fucking stop!"

The other five members of the rescue squad were taken aback by Qrow suddenly yelling at them to stop. Qrow himself looked like he was about to have a migraine.

"If this is how you people really talk to bartenders, you're all a bunch of fucking amateurs. Let me show you how the grown-ups do it."

Qrow lead them to the bar and signaled for all of them to sit down and shut up. Winter and Weiss were not happy with Qrow ordering them around like this, while Yang was disappointed at her own uncle calling her an f'n amateur. With the six of them sitting quietly, Qrow cleared his throat and turned to Junior, back behind the bar polishing his glasses.

"Hey, sorry about that," said Qrow. "Amateur huntresses, ya know?"

"Everybody tries to act like a tough guy when they come in here," said Junior. "Nine times out of ten, I have my twins up there show them the door."

"What happens to the tenth guy?"

"I fuck him up personally."

"Funny," said Yang, "because when I came in here-"

"Shut it, Yang!" said Qrow, holding up a finger. Yang wanted to protest when the other four also lifted a finger to tell her to be quiet. Yang sighed and looked down at the bar.

"So, would you like a menu or something in a bottle?" asked Junior.

"I'll take a Scotch on the..." Qrow suddenly shifted his eyes towards Winter and remembered a promise he was making to her. While usually not part of his routine, he needed to stand by his word with Winter. "Actually, just a ginger ale."

"I saw that look," replied Junior. "Somebody's got you on a leash."

"Trying to stay sober tonight for an important mission. Also trying to kick a bad addiction."

"More power to you."

Junior quickly poured a ginger ale from behind the counter and handed it to Qrow. Qrow turned his attention to the rest of the bar patrons.

"Well don't just sit there," said Qrow. "Order from the man!"

"I guess we'll all have ginger ale?" asked Winter.

Team RWBY nodded in response. Junior poured five more ginger ales for the rest of the patrons, with Yang getting her small umbrella upon request.

"Do I call you Junior or Mr. Xiong?" asked Qrow.

"You can call me Junior," said Junior.

"Thank you. So Junior, is it true you know something about the White Fang?"

"I'll tell you what I do know; a round of virgin drinks is pretty cheap."

"Well, here's a very generous tip."

Qrow pulled out his wallet and put down a 100-lien card in front of Junior. Ruby was amazed at the kind of money Qrow was spending to get information.

"Info on those guys have been pretty scarce lately," said Junior. "Last we heard a bunch of them were wiped out in that Grimm attack on Vale. Good riddance I say; if the Grimm came to this kingdom, I'd be out of a job."

"What about recent activity?" asked Qrow.

"You're going to have to look somewhere else."

"You're hiding something!" said Weiss, slamming her drink on the table. "You better tell us or-"

"Stop!" said Winter, grabbing Weiss' wrist. "You clearly have not paid attention."

Winter took a sip of her drink and looked into Junior's eyes.

"Listen Junior, I've-"

"YOU can call me Mr. Xiong," interrupted Junior.

Winter suddenly grabbed Junior by his tie and pulled him close so she was now in his face. Junior could feel his tie clench tight around his throat, cutting off his oxygen.

"In a few seconds, I'm going to call YOU an ambulance if you talk like that to me again, little man!" While keeping her grip on Junior's tie, Winter reached into her pocket and pulled out at least 50,000 lien worth of cards, stuffing them neatly into Junior's chest pocket. "Now let's see if that triggers any memories!"

Winter let go of Junior's tie. As Junior was trying to regain his breath, Yang was covering her mouth to hide her "O" face, Weiss was at a loss for words at seeing Winter act so out of character, and Qrow had a wide smug grin at seeing the old Winter he met suddenly make an appearance. Ruby and Blake simply stayed quiet and tended to their drinks.

"Now I'm not sure if this is legit or not, so take it with a grain of salt," said Junior. "You know the old industrial district that shut down?"

"You mean that downtown area next to where the old factories used to be?" asked Qrow. "Is that where they're hiding?"

"Could be White Fang, could be random hoodlums. All I know is there have been sightings of people roaming the area."

"But that's where the White Fang were before the freeway incident with Torchwick," said Blake. "Wouldn't they have all moved out by now?"

"I heard a couple of Faunus said they were slowly moving back to that territory since everyone else is occupied with the Vytal Festival."

"Of course," said Winter. "We have Atlas Military watching over the main city as our top priority. It seemed like a waste of resources to send our men to places with very few citizens dwelling."

"So we know where the White Fang could be hiding," said Qrow. "The problem now is just how many are out there?"

"I honestly have no idea," said Junior. "But if the sea port robbery and the breach are any indication, I'm guessing you're looking at forty troops minimum, and who knows just how much firepower they could be packing."

"Thanks for your help," said Qrow, taking a final sip of his drink before standing up. "Everyone finish up, thank him, and let's head out."

Everyone finished their drinks, thanked Junior for his service, and left the club to continue their search for Ivory.

#

It was a couple of hours before midnight. The two guards outside of Ivory's prison were getting tired from having nothing to do but stand around.

"This sucks," complained one guard. "How long do we have to keep watch here?"

"Boss says we have to do this all night."

"Wouldn't be so bad if the boss wasn't such a tight-ass about playing on our scrolls."

As the guard was complaining about his boredom, they suddenly heard screaming coming from inside the abandoned office. It sounded like their prisoner was throwing a temper tantrum.

"HEY!" yelled the guard, banging loudly on the door. "Keep it down in there you little freak!"

Ivory ignored the guard and kept yelling as loud as she could through her gag.

"Hey kid!" he yelled, banging on the door again. "I said shut the fuck up!"

"I think she needs a little corporal punishment."

"Good idea. It'll give me something to kill my boredom."

"Just don't overdo it, okay? We have to save the kill for the boss."

The guard opened the door and locked it behind him. Ivory was in the middle of the room, flailing around as she was having a meltdown. As annoyed as the Faunus was for having to hear Ivory's obnoxious screaming, he was smiling to himself over the thought of the violence he was going to inflict on Ivory. With Ivory not paying attention to the White Fang guard, he slowly walked over and got ready to kick her face in.

"Let's see you scream after this!" said the guard, winding his leg back and giving a swift kick to Ivory's face. Rather than see Ivory's face get smacked by his boot, Ivory suddenly shattered into several glass like pieces and seemingly disappeared.

"What the fuck? How did-"

The guard couldn't complete his final sentence before his throat was pierced from behind by the end of Neo's saber. With her saber firmly lodged into the guard's throat, Neo kicked the guard in the back, forcing him to fall flat on his face. He grabbed his throat with both hands to try and stop the blood from pouring out of his neck, which did little to help. As he got back on his knees, he saw Neo suddenly standing in front of him. Neo smiled and made the zipped lips gesture, then with one strong roundhouse kick with her left leg, she cracked the man's skull in and killed him instantly. She picked up the guard's gun and key and unlocked the door.

While Neo was taking care of the guard, Ivory was hiding herself in the corner. When she made the plan with Neo, Neo advised Ivory to not look at what she was about to do, as it was going to be a very violent rescue. Ivory could hear Neo unlock the door and exit the room.

"Everything all right?" asked the second guard, not yet realizing who was coming out. "It sounded like you-"

A loud ringing of gunfire soon erupted, and now everything went quiet. With the guards disposed of, Neo went back in and tapped Ivory's shoulder to signal her it was time to go. Ivory raised her hand for Neo to grab. Neo silently groaned to herself; she couldn't believe she was going to have to hold this little brat's hand. Neo grabbed Ivory tight and quickly ran out of the room, dragging Ivory along.

"Thank you for doing this!" said Ivory. "I really-"

Neo suddenly pulled Ivory up close and put her finger to her mouth, signaling for Ivory to keep quiet. Neo heard footsteps echoing down the hallway; she grabbed Ivory and hid behind one of the columns inside the warehouse. Neo used her illusion semblance to hide herself and Ivory to make it seem like they weren't there; she put her hand over Ivory's mouth to make sure Ivory remained quiet.

Two more soldiers appeared in the warehouse to check on the guards. Needless to say, they didn't like what they saw.

"Who the fuck did this?"

"We have to call Adam!" The guard frantically took out his scroll and contacted Adam immediately. "Come in, boss! This is Bravo-3! The prisoner has escaped; the guards appear to have been killed by a mercenary!"

"Then find the ones behind this and kill them!" yelled Adam.

"As for the hostage?"

"Bring her directly to me!"

The guards left the warehouse, but Neo knew the coast was anything but clear. As soon as Neo and Ivory stepped out of the warehouse, they were going to have the entire White Fang to deal with. The soldiers patrolling the streets were going to be on high alert, and because Faunus could see at night, it was going to be hard to stay hidden from them for long. Neo figured she would have to kill a couple more mutts along the way, but if a dozen or so were to suddenly ambush them, they were not going to make it out alive, not to mention if Adam found them first. Neo was wondering if maybe taking Ivory's bribe and jumping sides was such a good idea.

Ivory looked up and noticed Neo looking worried.

"Miss Neo?" asked Ivory. "Are we going to be okay?"

Neo looked at Ivory and shrugged her shoulders. That wasn't the kind of response Ivory wanted to see.

"But you promised you'd get me out of here!"

Neo simply held her hands up and shrugged her shoulders again. It wasn't her job to comfort Ivory and let her know things would turn out okay. Her only job right now was to keep Ivory alive, and even then, there was nothing forcing Neo to keep her word. Neo could just throw Ivory to the wolves and still pocket the five million.

Seeing Neo respond in a way that wasn't positive, Ivory curled up into a ball and started crying into her security blanket, worrying that there was no chance for them to escape.

"I want to go home!" cried Ivory. "I want my mommy and daddy and Aunt Weiss!"

Seeing Ivory curled up and scared suddenly triggered a memory for Neo. A memory about a little disabled girl who everyone pointed to and called a freak, whether it was because of her multi-colored hair, or because she wasn't a "normal" girl like the rest. Neo hated those memories; that was during a time when Neo was weak and pathetic, but soon met a man who taught her about how to get tough on life and force it to do what you wanted. Thanks to him, nobody ever made fun of Neo again; or more precisely, nobody still alive made fun of her. If Neo couldn't save Ivory, the least she could do was teach Ivory how not to be such a damn crybaby.

Neo took out her scroll and typed a message to tell Ivory.

"Listen kid," typed Neo. "You need to stop this crying act. You want to get out of here? Then it's time for you to grow up and get tough!"

Ivory stopped crying and looked up to Neo. "Get...tough?"

"Yeah. Only babies and weaklings cry. Are you going to be a weakling, or are you going to get tough and show these mongrels what you're made of?"

"But there's nothing I can do! I can't fight like Winter and Weiss! I don't even have one of those 'auras' that huntresses have!"

Neo shook her head as she kept typing at a rapid pace. "Being tough isn't about how strong you are. It's about how you handle your problems and not taking shit from people trying to fuck with you. So, are you going to keep taking shit, or start fighting back?"

Ivory wiped her tears with her blanket and tied it back around her neck.

"Well...papa did say that nice people make the worst businessmen. I didn't understand what he meant, but...I think I do now! All right Miss Neo, I'm ready to get tough!"

"Good. Now, you're too small to fight back, and as good as I am, even I have my limits. We need to evade them until we either find an escape or your friends come to help."

"I know where we can go!"

Ivory picked up a rock and made a square on the ground. She then drew two lines parallel to the square, then she drew a few circles next to the square, and at the end of the pair of lines she drew a large rectangle.

"I remember when being brought here there was an abandoned plant located about four blocks from here. A place that big would be great for hiding, right?"

Neo did remember there was a plant somewhere in this neighborhood. A huge building would make it easier for them to hide while Ivory's friends and family were sure to arrive.

"Good idea, kid," typed Neo. "You seem a bit too smart for someone supposedly disabled."

"But I am," said Ivory. "I have Asperger's-"

Neo signaled for Ivory to keep quiet, not interested in hearing an explanation when they could barely afford time as it is. Neo grabbed Ivory, peeked outside of the warehouse to check for White Fang approaching, and made their way to the abandoned plant.

#

"How long until we arrive in the district?" asked Winter.

"Less than a minute, Miss Schnee," said the driver.

"We should get out now and make it out on foot," said Qrow.

"But sir, this vehicle is more than capable of surviving any ambush."

"He's right," said Winter. "It's better tactics to enter the area on foot. We become less noticeable and we can split up in different areas to find Ivory."

"But Miss Schnee, I've been given directs orders from Ironwood to-"

"As the Special Operative in charge of this rescue mission, I order you to let us out now."

"If you insist, Miss Schnee."

The driver stopped the car and let out the rescue squad a few blocks from the official district, then drove off before anyone noticed.

"How should we split up?" asked Weiss.

"We'll split into three pairs," said Winter. "Weiss, you'll come with me. Ruby will go with Yang, and Blake will go with Qrow."

"Sounds good," said Qrow.

"Please," said Blake, "if any of you find Adam, do not try to fight him!"

"Sorry Blake," said Yang, "but that guy scarred my cousin, and I'm going to pay him back!"

"But he's too dangerous for you! If he did something to you I could never..." Blake clutched her chest, feeling her heart beat rapidly. She could never forgive herself if Adam wound up seriously harming one of her friends. Yang put a hand on Blake's shoulder and smiled.

"Calm down, kitty cat. If it's that serious to you, I'll try to avoid him."

"That goes for you two as well," said Qrow towards the Schnee sisters.

"Of course," said Winter. "Our main objective is to find Ivory and get out. Let's move!"

The pairs broke off to various parts of the district. Using their glyphs, Weiss and Winter propelled themselves to the roofs of the abandoned buildings to give themselves a better view of their surroundings.

"Where should we start looking?" asked Weiss. "We don't have time to search every building."

"I made sure to take note of their surroundings in that video," said Winter. "It was definitely in a building with a wide interior. In a district such as this one, it's likely they must be holding Ivory inside one of the warehouses."

"So how will we know we've found the right warehouse?"

"Simple; we find one being guarded by the White Fang."

Weiss looked down on the street below, making sure to keep watch for any soldiers patrolling the streets. She noticed two jeeps full of members heading north. Weiss looked up and noticed a warehouse in the direction they were going.

"It looks like they're heading towards one over there. Maybe that's where Ivory could be?"

"Astute observation, Weiss. Let's go!"

Winter and Weiss quickly made their way to the warehouse spotted by Weiss, and sure enough, there were several jeeps parked in front of the warehouse, as if the White Fang were all gathering in one location.

"Ivory must be inside," said Winter. "There must be at least a dozen soldiers on watch."

"But why would they all gather here?" asked Weiss. "Wouldn't it be easier to have only a handful of them guard Ivory while the rest patrol the streets?" Weiss instantly imagined the kind of horrifying scenarios that Ivory could be going through, causing Weiss to shake in fear. "Oh God, what if they're doing something to her right now? What if-"

"Calm down and focus!" said Winter in her stern, authoritative voice. "You won't do yourself or Ivory good if you get worked up like that."

Weiss took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "Right. What should we do?"

"We go in there and take out every one of those disgusting animals. Think you can handle it?"

"Ready when you are!"

Winter created a summoning glyph and summoned a flock of small bright white Nevermores, sending them into the warehouse. As the grunts were meeting up to discuss how to find Ivory, they were suddenly blindsided by the Nevermores. With the White Fang distracted fending off the Nevermores, Winter and Weiss charged into the warehouse. Weiss switched to her fire dust and swung her Myrtlenaster, firing several fireballs to take down some grunts. Winter split her weapon into two and quickly went to work disarming every grunt in her way. In a matter of seconds, the grunts were disarmed and knocked out. Winter grabbed one of the grunts and pulled him back to his feet.

"Where's the girl?" yelled Winter.

"We don't know!" said the grunt.

Winter dropped the grunt and held her weapon next to his face. "I don't have the patience for dumb! You better tell me where she is or else!"

"I can ask you the same thing, Schnee," said a voice from behind. The Schnees turned around and saw the Lieutenant of the White Fang arrive. "One of your hired goons apparently showed up and took her off our hands. Unfortunately, the boss has dibs on the little shit when we find her. Luckily for me, I get the two of you!"

The Lieutenant took out his chainsaw blade and revved up his weapon. Weiss got her rapier ready, anxious to get her rematch with the Lieutenant after their confrontation on the train, but Winter placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder and stepped forward.

"Fall back, Weiss," said Winter. "I'll take care of this myself. You make sure these grunts stay down, okay?"

"Understood," said Weiss, stepping back to let Winter fight alone.

"You think you stand a chance against me, princess?" said the Lieutenant, raising his chainsaw blade high, as if to intimidate Winter. Winter was hardly impressed with either his weapon or his physique, taking out her weapon calmly.

Winter formed a glyph behind her and used it to speed up her charge towards the Lieutenant. As Winter got close to the Lieutenant, the Lieutenant brought down his chainsaw blade onto Winter; to his surprise, Winter was able to block the blade with her saber. She detached the short sword from her main weapon and thrust it towards his throat; the Lieutenant moved his head aside as the sword just scraped his neck, causing a small cut across his neck. The Lieutenant kicked Winter back, then took another wide swing with his chainsaw. Despite his large size, the Lieutenant could swing his blade at a fast pace, but Winter was able to parry him back with ease. Winter combined her swords again and put all her strength into her next swing, knocking the chainsaw out of the Lieutenant's hands. With the Lieutenant unarmed, Winter thrust her saber towards his chest to deliver the final blow, only for the Lieutenant to grab Winter's wrist just before her sword can pierce through him. The Lieutenant grabbed Winter by the throat and threw her towards a nearby pillar; Winter quickly corrected her stance in midair and created a glyph to land feet first on the pillar, then ran vertically up towards the ceiling. The Lieutenant grabbed his weapon and swung at the pillar, breaking it apart; Winter jumped off the pillar and landed back on the ground in perfect formation.

"Scared yet, princess?" asked the Lieutenant.

"Why would I fear someone like you?" said Winter, forming a summoning glyph on the ground. "I've killed far stronger monsters than you. Let me show you!"

Winter's glyph glowed bright as a Beringel emerged from the glyph. The Beringel let out a monstrous roar that would cause normal people to flinch, but the Lieutenant wasn't shaken at the sight of the white and blue gorilla Grimm.

"Figures a tramp like you has someone else do her dirty work," said the Lieutenant, revving up his chainsaw blade.

The Beringel charged at the Lieutenant with one arm out, aiming to clothesline the Lieutenant's head off. Rather than run away, the Lieutenant ran at the Beringel with his chainsaw held high, slicing through the Beringel's arm and causing it to disappear.

"Is that all you got?" replied the Lieutenant. Losing a limb would normally be the end for a normal Grimm, but with Winter having perfected her summoning techniques, the Beringel simply reformed its arm, then turned around and grabbed the Lieutenant by the legs. The Beringel picked up the Lieutenant and slammed him into the ground like a rag doll, then threw him into one of the warehouse's brick walls with such force that The Lieutenant smashed through to the outside. Winter and Weiss thought for sure that would be enough to take him out, but instead he simply got back up as if he was barely in any pain. The only signs of damage were the small cracks appearing on his mask.

Without wasting another second, Winter sent the Beringel to go after the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant let out a primal roar himself, tapping into his natural Faunus instincts, and charged after the Beringel without his weapon. The Beringel attempted to grab the Lieutenant, only for the Lieutenant to catch the Beringel's hands with his own, trying to overpower the Grimm with raw strength, the blood vessels in his arms popping all over, ready to burst at any given moment. With the two nearly being even in physical strength, the Lieutenant wound his head back and skull bashed the Grimm. As the Beringel flinched for a few moments, the Lieutenant took out his blade and pierced through the chest of the Beringel, causing it to disappear.

"Are you scared now, princess?" yelled the Lieutenant as he stepped back into the warehouse, only to suddenly find himself standing in front of a trio of bright white Alpha Beowolves.

"Hardly," said Winter.

#

Once the others had spread out, Qrow turned into his crow form to get an aerial view of the district, while Blake quickly went from rooftop to rooftop, using her natural night vision to search for clues to Ivory's whereabouts. She found the mark of the White Fang on one of the abandoned storefronts, indicating they had gathered there at one point. Blake looked around to check for any guards, then jumped down in front of the store. She activated Gambol Shroud's gun mode and loaded a dust clip; if there was somebody waiting inside, she was going to have to act quick.

She broke down the door and quickly scanned the darkened room; the room was devoid of any sign of life. Blake noticed a door on the other side; Blake slowly approached the door and placed her ear to the side, checking to hear if anyone was behind the door, but heard nothing.

"Looks like no one's here," said Blake. Blake turned around to leave, only to nearly jump out of skin when she saw Adam suddenly appear in front of her. Adam swung down his katana to slice Blake in half; the shadow clone quickly evaporated into nothing. With Blake's clone destroyed, Adam stepped outside and called out to Blake.

"Welcome back, my darling!" said Adam. Blake jumped down from the building she was scouting from to confront Adam. "Decided to come back where you belong?"

"I've come to rescue the girl!" said Blake.

"The girl? You mean you're working for the Schnees?" Adam let out a discontented sigh, sounding more like he was disappointed rather than angry. "Oh Blake, it was bad enough you had to abandon me and the White Fang. But to become an Uncle Tomcat for the Schnees? Do you know how heartbroken that makes me?"

"Why the girl, Adam? Why try to harm an innocent child?"

"That child isn't innocent! She's a Schnee! The Faunus will never obtain true equality until that entire family is eliminated!"

Blake took out the blade of her weapon and pointed it at Adam. Adam noticed Blake's hands shaking in fear at just how deranged Adam had become. Adam snickered at Blake's reaction.

"What's wrong, my darling?"

"Adam, please...stop this!"

"Or what? You'll be forced to put me down?" Adam sheathed his katana and waved for Blake to come after him. "Then go ahead and do it...unless you still have feelings for me!"

Blake gripped her katana and charged straight for Adam. Adam waited for Blake to approach close enough, then pulled the trigger on his sheath to quickly take out his katana and easily parry Blake's weapon out of her hands. Adam straight kicked Blake in the ribs and knocked her to the ground.

"You made me do this, darling!"

Adam was going to slash Blake when Qrow suddenly came down from the sky and blocked Adam from reaching Blake.

"Another one of Schnee's lapdogs?" asked Adam.

"I'm nobody's lapdog, boy!" said Qrow. "Now tell me where Ivory is!"

"The girl? She's out of our hands. One of Schnee's other lapdogs appears to have already taken her."

"Blake, go and search for Ivory!"

"Be careful," said Blake, getting up and leaving Qrow to handle Adam alone. Adam was about to chase after Blake when Qrow took out his sword and prevented Adam from following Blake.

"Your fight is with me, boy!"

"Tell me lapdog," said Adam, "how much are the Schnees paying you to do this?"

"I'm not doing this as a paid mercenary. That girl you took hostage is my daughter, and I'm going to make you regret ever laying a finger on her!"

#

Ruby and Yang were running through the abandoned streets of the district, trying to find any trace of Ivory. Even with her supersonic speed, with so many buildings and places Ivory could be, the task of trying to find Ivory was daunting to Ruby.

"How are we supposed to find Ivory?" asked Ruby. "She could be anywhere in this place!"

"Simple," said Yang. "We find one of those White Fang scum and make them talk!"

Unbeknownst to Ruby and Yang, one of the jeeps carrying several members of the White Fang was driving up behind them. Spotting the pair up ahead, the White Fang decided to try and take them out by running them over as fast as they could. Hearing the screeching of the tires behind them, Ruby and Yang turned around to see the White Fang heading straight for them. Yang reacted quickly by pushing Ruby out of the way to safety. The White Fang rammed into Yang, sending her flying back several feet and nearly crushing her ribs. Yang coughed up a bit of blood as her aura was nearly depleted from the sneak attack.

"God damn that hurts!" said Yang, wiping the blood away from her mouth. Although she was in immense pain, she smiled to herself as her hair emitted a bright golden light and her eyes turned dark red.

"Finish her already!" yelled one of the grunts. The White Fang soldiers revved up the jeep and sped towards Yang, intending to finish her off. What they didn't realize was by nearly killing Yang the first time they rammed into her, they gave Yang a huge boost in power thanks to her semblance, which Yang liked to sum up as "you hit hard, I hit harder." Ruby stood back, knowing Yang was about to deliver a devastating hit back.

As soon as the jeep was within reach, Yang threw a fierce uppercut into the front bumper, sending the vehicle flying straight up into the air like it weighed nothing. The car had to have reached 100, maybe 200 feet easily. The White Fang soldiers inside bailed while they were in the air to avoid being crushed from within as the jeep crashed onto the ground, becoming nothing more than a two-ton pile of scrap metal.

"Wow, Yang!" said Ruby. "I think that's a new personal best!"

"Thank you!" said Yang. "Now, which of these assholes was the driver?"

#

Neo and Ivory were hiding inside the empty industrial plant. With the plant being large and barely lit, even if some of the White Fang soldiers were to enter, it was easy for Neo and Ivory to hide within. Neo and Ivory were amongst the upper scaffolding when they suddenly heard what sounded like a devastating car crash happening outside.

"What was that?" asked Ivory. "Are they coming?"

Neo signaled Ivory to stay where she was so Neo could investigate. Neo looked out from a window on the upper floor and noticed a giant blonde standing over one of the White Fang mutts, and what appeared to be a pile of scrap metal that used to be a car some feet away. Neo recognized the blonde as the one she nearly killed on the train, and along with her was that annoying redhead who Torchwick tried to kidnap. Any other day, Neo would have loved to go out there and murder these two pests, but today she had another job to take care of.

Meanwhile, Yang wasn't getting much useful information from the grunts. Low on patience and still pretty pissed about nearly getting run over, Yang wasted little time knocking out some of the grunts' teeth.

"Yang!" said Ruby. "Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?"

"If they didn't want their shit kicked in," said Yang, "they shouldn't have kidnapped my cousin!"

"Well beating the snot out of them isn't going to help us find Ivory!"

Yang sighed and calmed down, her hair turning back to its normal shade. Leave it to Ruby to always keep Yang's emotions in check.

"You're right, sis. Let's head-"

Yang suddenly felt a dust round shoot past her from behind, nearly taking off some of Yang's hair. The sisters turned around to find the shooter, and saw a familiar foe standing near the entrance of an abandoned plant. The moment Yang saw her dual haired nemesis, Yang instantly got mad.

"YOU!" yelled Yang, her hair immediately going up in flames again.

"Oh no," said Ruby.

Neo smiled and taunted Yang to come after her. Yang wasted no time running towards Neo with Ruby following suit. Once Neo was successful in luring the two into the plant, she used her semblance to appear as if she had suddenly vanished.

"Get out here you coward!" yelled Yang. "Try fighting like a real woman!"

While Yang was calling Neo out, Ivory was waiting in the scaffolding of the building, scared of being alone and hoping Neo came back. When she heard Yang screaming, Ivory got up and looked down to see Ruby and Yang.

"RUBY! YANG!" yelled Ivory. "I'm over here!"

Ruby and Yang looked up and saw Ivory waving to them.

"It's Ivory!" said Ruby. "Hang on, Ivory! I'm coming!"

"Wait a minute, Ruby!" said Yang. "It's got to be a trap!"

Ruby used her scythe to shoot herself to the scaffolding and ran over to Ivory. Ivory grabbed Ruby into a tight hug, relieved to finally be rescued.

"Are you okay, Ivory?"

"I'm okay!" said Ivory. "But where's Weiss and mommy?"

"They're somewhere else in the district. We'll let them know we found you. Everything's going to be okay, Ivory!"

While Ruby was comforting Ivory, Yang was frantically looking around the plant. This smelled like such an obvious trap, and Yang was waiting for either Neo or the White Fang to suddenly show up and ambush them when they weren't expecting it. Ruby held on to Ivory and jumped down from the scaffolding. Ivory ran over to hug Yang, who Ruby noticed looked more worried than relieved.

"What's wrong, Yang?" asked Ruby. "We found Ivory!"

"But where the hell did that ice cream bitch go?" said Yang. "I know she's here!"

Yang was confused. Neo had to be using Ivory to lure them in here for a fight, so why did Neo suddenly disappear? If this was supposed to be a trap or an ambush, wouldn't it have sprung on them by now? None of it made sense to Yang, but since they weren't in any immediate danger, she cooled off and turned her eyes back to her natural lilac color. Ivory knew this wasn't a trap, but she didn't want to say anything. Part of Neo's deal with saving Ivory was Ivory having to keep Neo helping her a secret, as Neo didn't want to suddenly get a reputation of being a softie. Once Ivory was safely in their hands, Neo quietly slipped out of the plant. Neo's plan worked perfectly; outside of the guards she killed, nobody witnessed Neo save Ivory, so Neo could pretend she had nothing to do with Ivory's escape.

"I guess she ran away again," said Yang. "The important thing is we found Ivory."

"I'll call Weiss and tell her we have Ivory!" said Ruby.

"There they are!" shouted someone from the entrance. The sisters turned and noticed some White Fang soldiers entering the plant, guns out and ready to fire.

"All right!" said Yang, banging her fists together. "I get to bust more White Fang heads!"

"Hold it, Yang," said Ruby. "You're still pretty banged up from your last beat down. Besides, I didn't get a turn yet!"

"Show'em what you're made of, sis!"

Yang held on to Ivory as the two backed away to give Ruby some room. Ruby took out her Crescent Rose in scythe mode; the White Fang immediately started firing at Ruby. With the aid of her speed semblance, Ruby dodged the gunfire and swung her scythe at the closest White Fang member, knocking him down with her scythe. Ivory observed the way Ruby was moving, wielding her giant scythe like it was nothing. Ruby was like a red blur, using her bullets to quickly propel herself from soldier to soldier, and gain the momentum needed to spring herself up and dropkick the soldiers.

"Had enough?" asked Ruby to the fallen White Fang soldiers. Instead of running away, the soldiers stumbled back to their feet and pulled out their swords. "Guess not." Ruby reloaded her rifle and got ready for round two.

#

After taking out the last of Winter's summoned Grimm, the Lieutenant had nearly exhausted his entire aura; his craving for wanting to kill a Schnee was the only thing keeping him going. Winter was about halfway depleted as well; having to summon so many strong Grimm to fight the Lieutenant came at a price, and she needed to conserve as much as possible for herself.

"I'm still standing, bitch!" said the Lieutenant, raising his chainsaw blade high despite having trouble standing straight. "Where's the rest of your reinforcements?"

"I won't need any more," replied Winter. "You clearly can't continue fighting. Surrender and tell me where Ivory is!"

"We'll see about that!"

The Lieutenant ran slowly at Winter, only to suddenly trip over himself when his ankles got tied up by Blake's Gambol Shroud, dropping his chainsaw blade in the process. Weiss then used her ice dust to create an arch over the Lieutenant, trapping him on the ground. The only thing the Lieutenant could do now was swear and make empty threats as he struggled to break free.

"That takes care of him," said Weiss, "but I don't think he's going to talk."

"So you haven't found Ivory either?" asked Blake.

"Negative," said Winter, "but weren't you supposed to be with Qrow? Did something happen?"

"We ran into Adam. Qrow decided to fight him alone and have me search for Ivory."

"Do you think he'll be okay?" asked Weiss.

"Honestly...I don't know," said Blake. "The last thing I wanted to do was leave him to fight Adam alone, but our goal is to find Ivory and get out of here. That's why we need to find Ivory asap!"

Weiss and Blake's scrolls suddenly rang. They took them out and saw it was a call from their team leader.

"What is it, Ruby?" answered Weiss.

"We found Ivory!" said Ruby. "She's okay!"

"Oh thank God!" said Weiss, letting out a relieved sigh. "Where are you right now?"

"We're in this big factory looking place in the middle of the district. It's the one with a giant wrecked jeep in front of it, you can't miss it!"

"There was a plant a few blocks east from here," said Blake.

"Stay where you are!" said Weiss. "We'll meet up with you!"

Blake and Weiss were heading out of the warehouse to meet up with their teammates when Weiss noticed Winter wasn't following her. Winter was staring at the ground with her arms crossed, as if she was contemplating something.

"What are you doing, Winter?" asked Weiss. "We know where Ivory is! Let's go!"

"Weiss, you and Blake head to Ivory's location," said Winter. "I'm going to find Qrow!"

"What?" said Weiss, taken aback by Winter's orders. "But we need to-"

Winter ignored Weiss' protesting and already left to find Qrow. Now Weiss was torn about where she should go.

"Blake, you meetup with Ruby. I'm following-"

"No!" said Blake, grabbing Weiss' wrist tight. "Listen, I'm worried about them as well, but Ivory's our top priority, and I am NOT going to let my teammates die because of my past mistakes!"

Weiss hated to see Winter go, but she knew Blake was right. Weiss took a deep breath and slowly removed Blake's hand from her wrist.

"Of course. Let's rendezvous with the others."


	9. The Rescue Mission (Part 2)

**A/N: As mentioned before, due to how bad the Qrow and Adam fight was initially, I removed it from the last chapter and tweaked it a bit so Qrow doesn't come off as a total idiot. I hope the tweaks have improved the fight.**

 **Enjoy the chapter! Next chapter will be the finale and epilogue.**

* * *

Despite carrying a giant sword, Qrow could swing his weapon around just as fast as a one-handed weapon, which usually threw off people who tried to pick a fight with him. However, with Adam being a highly self-disciplined soldier, he was able to match Qrow strike for strike. Neither one of them could land a clean hit on the other as the two squared off, the entire city area serving as their battleground. The two clashed swords in the middle of the street, physically trying to overpower each other.

"You're a decent challenge for a human," remarked Adam.

"I've been hunting and fighting since you were a pup, boy," replied Qrow. The two jumped backed several feet apart. Qrow looked at Adam's red blade and noticed it was glowing faintly before Adam sheathed his blade. Qrow smirked and held his sword tip down, blade facing away from Adam.

"Giving up, little pup?" said Qrow, making sure to emphasize the "pup" remark to get under Adam's skin. As hotheaded as Adam was, he knew better than to fall for such an obvious setup. Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out a white dust crystal.

"Don't underestimate me human," said Adam, throwing the crystal up and quickly slashing it with his katana, causing it to explode in a bright flash of light. Qrow covered his eyes for only a second, but Adam had disappeared. Qrow held up his sword and looked around, but with the only source of light being the moon above, it was hard to see where Adam was possibly hiding.

 _"Where the fuck did he-"_ Qrow couldn't even finish his thought as he suddenly saw a flash of red light coming from his left and felt a blade slash through his hip. Qrow turned to see a glimpse of Adam for less than a second before he suddenly disappeared back into the darkness.

 _"How does he...oh right, Faunus have night vision. Well this is going to be a pain in my ass."_

Qrow frantically looked in every direction hoping to catch Adam and counter his attack. Even when looking at every possible way Adam could come from, Adam was able to run up and slash him across his back, taking another huge chunk of Qrow's aura away. Qrow turned around only to be greeted by nobody; at this rate, Adam was going to defeat Qrow with barely any effort. Qrow can feel his forehead getting moist and his arms shaking.

 _"Dammit Qrow, fucking calm yourself and think! If he can attack in any direction out here in the open, I need to get somewhere to cut down on his possibilities."_

Qrow observed his surroundings and figured out the best place to go: In the alley between the buildings. With such a small space to move around, the only way Adam could strike Qrow would be to attack from directly behind Qrow, in front of him, or right above. Qrow ran into the alley and took a couple of deep breaths as he gripped down hard on his sword.

 _"All right, this is a one in three guess. Now, coming from the front would be too obvious, and I can catch him above me if he blocks the moonlight. So, the most likely guess is..."_

Qrow heard footsteps charging behind him; Qrow turned around and held up his sword to block Adam's attack right on time.

"Your surprise attacks won't work anymore," taunted Qrow.

"It doesn't matter," said Adam. "I can tell you've already lost."

"What gives you that impression?"

"The way you're barely holding on to your weapon."

Despite Qrow trying to act cocky in front of Adam, Adam could easily tell Qrow was getting rattled by the way Qrow's wrist was shaking on the handle of his sword. Qrow pushed Adam away and fired dust rounds from his shotgun as he quickly backed away from Adam. Adam held up his katana and absorbed the shots as he slowly approached Qrow; once Qrow's clip was out of ammo, he turned around and bolted out of the alley turning a corner. Adam chased him back into the street, only to have suddenly lost him.

As soon as Qrow felt like he had lost Adam, Qrow turned back into his human form and rested on a nearby roof. He was feeling anxious and uneasy, and he couldn't understand why.

 _"What the fuck is wrong with me? I've been in several fights like this before! So why do I suddenly feel like I'm going to lose it? What the hell is so different about..."_

As Qrow placed a hand on his chest to sense how fast his heart was beating, he felt something in his pocket that suddenly reminded him why he was acting this way. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his flask. With the promise he made to Winter, he had foregone drinking before they started their rescue mission. For the first time in possibly since the day Summer died, Qrow was fighting 100% sober, and it was completely screwing him up. Qrow unscrewed the top and nearly held the flask up to his lips.

 _"Just one sip won't be so bad, right? I just need enough to calm my fucking nerves!"_

Qrow was about to tilt his wrist back and take in that precious liquid courage he was craving, but quickly held his arm out and pulled the flask away from himself.

 _"No; not tonight. No matter how much I want it, I must keep my promise. No matter how good that sweet, sweet vintage smells..."_

Qrow held the flask up to his nose and took a strong whiff of the whiskey inside.

 _"Actually...maybe I can use this to help me out!"_

Qrow reloaded his dust rounds, then took in another strong sniff of his flask. After taking in the scent of his whiskey, Qrow waited until he heard the footsteps of Adam touching down on the roof. As Adam got ready to strike, Qrow tossed his flask at Adam, then fired a dust round from the shotgun in his sword to make the flask explode, spraying the whiskey all over Adam. Adam held up his arm to his eyes to avoid being blinded as he was soaked in vintage whiskey, not amused by Qrow's antics.

"Is this a joke, human?" yelled Adam.

"Then what are you waiting for?" said Qrow. "Come and get me!"

Adam was about to attack Qrow, but realized it was just another ploy to lure himself in, and instead sheathed his katana.

"I know what you're trying to do human. You think you can get the upper hand by setting me off, causing me to make a fatal mistake?"

"That was the plan, yeah," said Qrow nonchalantly.

Adam took out another dust crystal and blinded Qrow again, then quickly made his way to the roof of another building to observe Qrow. Qrow had jumped down to the street below and looked around, raising his sword up in defense. To Adam, Qrow was like a scared child lost in the woods, looking in every direction and not having a clue when he was going to be struck down. Without the ability to see in the dark like he did, Qrow was a sitting duck. Although it gave Adam a thrill to stalk Qrow like this, he needed to end this quick and find the Schnees. After a few minutes of futile searching, Qrow dropped his guard, believing Adam had run away for good; it was this precise moment Adam was waiting for.

With Qrow's guard dropped, Adam dove down from the building he was perched on. In a few seconds, Adam was going to shoot out his katana and slice Qrow from behind, ending his life instantly. Adam was about one second away from reaching Qrow, but before he can pull the trigger on his sheath, Qrow suddenly rotated around and swung his sword with two hands. In the instant before he was struck by Qrow's sword, Adam could see Qrow smirking to himself and muttering the words "Got you."

Qrow nailed Adam with his sword and sent him crashing through the window of a nearby warehouse, dealing some heavy damage. Qrow charged into the warehouse and fired several shots from his sword; Adam got up and quickly used his katana to deflect Qrow's shots as he ran into the shadows of the warehouse. Instead of following Adam, Qrow took a deep breath and waited for Adam to attack him. Sure enough, Adam quickly charged at Qrow about to shoot his katana out and slash Qrow, but Qrow was able to hold up his sword and block Adam's attack. Adam was now getting frustrated that Qrow was somehow able to tell where Adam was despite fighting in nearly pitch-black darkness.

"How is a human like you able to see me coming?" yelled Adam.

"Simple," said Qrow. "When you smell like my favorite brand of whiskey, I can see you coming a mile away."

That's when Adam figured out the real reason Qrow had sprayed all that alcohol on him; if he couldn't see Adam, he'd smell him instead, effectively nulling any chance for Adam to sneak attack Qrow. Blood boiling that he had been outsmarted by a human, Adam swung wildly at Qrow, who continued to block all his strikes. The more Adam's sword clashed against Qrow's, the brighter the sword glowed red; the markings on Adam's mask were glowing bright as well. Qrow knew this was the time Adam would pull off his most dangerous attack; Qrow jumped back to avoid a big overhead swing from Adam, then put his sword away and ran off.

"You think you can just run away, human?" hissed Adam. Adam sheathed his blade and saw Qrow trying to hide himself behind a pillar. Whatever Qrow was planning, it wasn't going to work as Adam was now powerful enough to bring this entire warehouse down. Adam pulled the trigger on his sheath and sliced through the pillar diagonally. Adam expected to hear Qrow's body be torn in half and fall to the ground, but only heard the pillar breaking apart and causing part of the warehouse to collapse. Adam got out of the way of the falling debris as the warehouse came down, taking out a large portion of the roof and the wall along with it. Adam searched for any signs of Qrow, but he had apparently vanished from the area.

"Did he escape at the last second?" Adam kept looking in every direction to where Qrow might try to attack from, but the only sign of life he could spot was a crow that flew overhead. Even though it was only a bird, Adam couldn't help but feel like something was odd about a bird flying around at this time of night in this part of the city. Adam ignored the crow and kept searching for Qrow; he started moving some of the rubble aside to see if Qrow had been buried underneath.

As Adam dug through the rubble, he noticed a shadow being cast over him. Adam immediately looked up and saw Qrow coming down to strike him with his scythe. Adam jumped back just in time to avoid being sliced in half, but the outer blade of Qrow's scythe still ripped through Adam's jacket and left a visible cut on his chest.

"Most people hardly see that coming," said Qrow. "I have to say, you're pretty good for someone who isn't a veteran, boy. A guy like you could be one of the best huntsmen in the world. Shame you waste your potential being a lowlife criminal who kidnaps children."

"In your eyes, I'm a criminal," said Adam, "but to the Faunus that have been oppressed by people like you and the Schnee family, I'm their hero."

"Since when does a hero kidnap and threaten to kill children?"

"That child is a Schnee. One day she'll grow up to become an oppressor just like her family. It's best to get rid of them now before it's too late."

Qrow covered his face with his left hand and let out a small laugh.

"What the hell is so funny?" hissed Adam.

"I'm laughing because for such a strong fighter, you're even more ignorant than my kid."

"You dare compare me to that filthy spawn of the Schnee family?"

"Let me tell you about my daughter," said Qrow, holding his weapon down. "I've only known her for a few days, but I feel like I've learned so much about her in that time. See, she suffers from a mental disability that makes her act different than most normal people."

"And you expect me to pity her for this?"

"Just hear me out. I thought her disability wasn't that big of a deal, and then I learned just how awful it is. Poor girl goes through a lot of problems over the simplest things."

"What the hell is your point?" asked Adam, losing his patience with this pointless anecdote.

"My point is that for a girl her age, despite a few behavior issues on her part, she handles herself well for all the stuff she goes through. Meanwhile, there's you, the guy who thinks the world has done him wrong, so he decides to lead a group of impressionable young adults to 'fight the good fight' against their evil oppressors."

"Are you justifying what the humans, what Schnee has done to the Faunus?"

"Look, I don't like Jock Strap Schnee either. Hell, I almost hate the guy as much as you do. If you were just going after him and the people that kiss his ass, I'd get it. But that's not what you do. You White Fang scum go after anybody you can get your hands on. Hell, you killed an innocent Faunus who wanted to live in peace, just because he didn't believe in your message."

"Any Faunus who doesn't believe in our message do not deserve to live. Now tell me what point you're trying to make!"

"The point I'm trying to make is, we all have our issues, and how we decide to cope with them defines us as people. My daughter is a true little grown up, and you...well..." Qrow looked straight at Adam's mask and put on a wide, smarmy grin. "You're just a whiny little bitch."

Adam gritted his teeth and let out a low growl. He didn't care what trick Qrow was planning this time; he wanted nothing more than to cut out this human's tongue along with the rest of his head.

"I've heard enough from you, human!" said Adam, gripping down on the handle on his katana.

"Can I say one more thing?" Qrow suddenly had a serious scowl on his face as he held up his scythe. "I may be a huntsman, but I have no qualms killing a son of a bitch like you. Pray to whatever God you believe in they'll show mercy, because I won't."

Adam pulled the trigger on his sheath to shoot out his katana and swing upward at Qrow; Qrow swung down his scythe to parry Adam's attack. Using his scythe like a staff, Qrow spun his scythe around in front of him at rapid speed, leaving Adam no possible opening to attack Qrow. Whatever confidence Qrow was lacking before was back in spades, and Adam couldn't use his usual tricks to gain the upper hand on Qrow. Adam sheathed his blade and distanced himself from Qrow; Qrow held his scythe still, ready to swing the moment Adam tried to attack. With both men at a stand-off, this next attack was going to be the moment the tide would turn in one of their favors.

As soon as Adam charged at Qrow, Qrow swung his scythe to take off Adam's head. Adam bent down and ducked under Qrow's swing, fired out his katana and sliced through Qrow's left thigh. Whatever aura Qrow had left to protect himself was now gone as a thin gash formed on Qrow's thigh. Despite the horrendous pain he was in, Qrow refused to fall to one knee as the blood seeped down his leg. Seeing Qrow's pants become stained with blood as he struggled to stand on his wounded leg, Adam felt assured he was going to win this fight.

"Your aura has been reduced to nothing," said Adam. "Still think you can fight, human?"

"I'm still breathing, aren't I?" replied Qrow.

Adam sheathed his blade, ready to land the final blow to finish off Qrow. Before Adam can take another step towards Qrow, he was suddenly stopped by a giant bright glyph appearing in front of him, preventing him from reaching Qrow. Adam recognized that pattern belonging to the Schnee family; Qrow turned his head and saw Winter walk up beside him.

"Adam Taurus!" said Winter. "Under the orders of the Atlas Military, you are charged with crimes against humanity! Surrender now, and we just might spare you the ultimate punishment!"

Adam was never going to surrender. If he were to somehow fall to humans, he would do so dying in battle, not by a faux peaceful surrender. Adam wanted to go after Winter right away, but now was not the time to strike. Even if Qrow seemed incapacitated now, there was always a chance he could still pull off something and take Adam by surprise while he was busy with Winter. The best plan for now would be to make a temporary retreat.

"You'll have to catch me then, human!" said Adam, making a 180 and running away. Winter quickly used her glyph to summon a Beowolf to track down Adam while she checked on Qrow, who didn't understand why Adam decided to make a break for it.

 _"Why would he suddenly turn tail and run?"_ thought Qrow. _"Is he really giving up or...FUCK!"_

Qrow dropped his weapon and fell on one knee; he could barely focus on what Adam was possibly planning while his leg was in serious pain.

"Are you all right?" asked Winter.

"What the hell was that?" asked Qrow.

"What was what?"

"You giving him a chance to surrender! You should have just killed him where he stood!"

"If I were a huntress, I'd like nothing more than to kill that man, but as a special operative tasked with keeping the peace, I have to offer a chance of surrender. Killing him outright would only make him a martyr for the rest of the White Fang, and the last thing we need right now is more interkingdom outrage."

Qrow let out a soft chuckle. Hearing that kind of talk reminded him of all the lectures Ozpin would constantly give him, and as much as Qrow respected Ozpin, he never did care for his soft approach.

"You sound just like old Ozzy," said Qrow. Qrow tried to stand up but his leg was having none of it as he fell right back down.

"Were you seriously trying to stand up with a wound like that?"

"It's not a big deal!"

"At least let me patch it up, you buffoon!" Winter took out a roll of bandages and got to work wrapping it around Qrow's wound. After the wound was covered up, Winter placed Qrow's arm around her shoulders and helped Qrow up.

"Feel free to thank me anytime for this," said Winter.

"You shouldn't be here in the first place!" said Qrow. "Has Ivory even been found?"

"Ivory is safe with the girls."

"Then you should have just taken her and left."

"And leave you alone with that monster? Look at you! You can't even stand up right now without my help!"

"Wow, ice queen. It almost sounds like you were genuinely worried about me!"

"Of course I was!" said Winter, getting agitated by Qrow's ungratefulness. "I'm not going to let Ivory lose her father!"

"D'aawww!" said Qrow, pressing his finger on Winter's cheek. "You were worried about me!"

Winter smacked Qrow's arm away and turned her away to avoid looking at Qrow.

"Oh c'mon now, are you really that upset? I'm just messing with you, ice queen!"

"I know," said Winter, "but still..."

Winter looked at Qrow as she tried to wipe a tear forming in one of her eyes.

"You could at least show some appreciation for-"

Qrow suddenly wrapped his arms around Winter and pulled her into the tightest hug he can muster.

"Thank you," said Qrow. "And not just for this, but all things in general."

Winter suddenly felt her anxiety go away as she smiled and hugged Qrow back. Qrow smiled and almost shed a tear himself. As Qrow took a breath through his nose, he picked up a strange scent. At first, he thought it was something Winter was wearing, but after taking another whiff, it smelled more like alcohol.

In fact, it smelled like his favorite brand of whiskey.

Winter was enjoying their moment of solitude when she suddenly felt Qrow gripping hard on her shoulders.

"Qrow? Is something wr-"

The next thing Winter knew, she was suddenly thrown to the side, causing her to fall on the concrete as she heard what sounded like meat getting skewed through metal. She looked up and was horrified by what she saw.

Standing in front of Qrow was Adam, his katana piercing through Qrow's stomach, the top half of the blade appearing on the other side, covered in Qrow's blood. Qrow was hunched over the katana as he had his hand on the grip of his sword, but was too late to use his weapon to protect himself.

Adam let out a low-pitched laugh that could only be described as demonic as he slightly twisted his blade and pulled it out of Qrow. Qrow fell forward, holding his hands to his open wound to poorly prevent more blood from seeping through, barely able to say anything as the life was draining from his eyes. Winter could feel her body break out in a cold sweat as she was wanted to scream, but was so terrified she couldn't stop her rapid breathing.

With Qrow now disposed of, Adam pointed his blood-stained katana towards Winter.

"One down."

#

Weiss and Blake made it to the plant where Ruby and Yang were waiting. As soon as Ivory saw Weiss, Ivory ran over and wrapped her arms around Weiss, relieved to finally be reunited with her family.

"Ivory, are you okay?" asked Weiss.

"I'm okay!" said Ivory. "Where's mommy?"

"Winter went off to find Qrow."

"And he's in the middle of fighting Adam," said Blake.

"Mommy and daddy are fighting that monster who hurt me?" asked Ivory.

"If anybody can defeat monsters, it's Uncle Qrow!" said Ruby.

"But suppose he can't," said Yang. "What do we do now?"

"We need to leave," said Blake. "Our job is to rescue Ivory, not confront the White Fang!"

"Blake is right," said Ruby. "Besides, I'm sure Uncle Qrow and Winter can handle themselves!"

"I don't know," said Yang. "Call it a hunch, but I've got a bad feeling in my gut."

"Only one way to settle this," said Weiss. "I'll call my sister."

Weiss took out her scroll and contacted Winter. The more Winter's scroll kept ringing, the more rattled Ivory became. Weiss was mentally begging for Winter to answer, but after waiting nearly an entire minute, it was clear to everyone Winter was not going to respond.

"She's not picking up."

"Are they in trouble?" asked Ivory. "You have to go save them!"

"It's not that simple, Ivory!"

"Why? Aren't huntsmen supposed to save people?"

"Yes, but..." Looking into Ivory's worried eyes, Weiss couldn't bring herself to explain why the tactical thing to do would leave Winter and Qrow behind and focus on saving Ivory; nobody else on Team RWBY can bring themselves to do the same.

"All right team," said Ruby, "I say we find Winter and Uncle Qrow to see if they need our help! Blake, think you can help us find them?"

"Of course," said Blake. "Follow me."

Using her night vision, Blake lead the team through the darkened streets. Weiss kept a tight grip on Ivory's hand, hoping her sister and Qrow were all right so they can leave this godforsaken part of the city. After running through the streets for several minutes, Blake spotted a warehouse where one side of the building had collapsed.

"There's a building up ahead that looks like it's been destroyed recently. I'm going up to get a better look." Blake quickly climbed up a nearby building to observe the warehouse from an aerial point of view.

"Can you see anyone in there?" asked Ruby via their scrolls. Blake surveyed the area to see any signs of movement and found two people fighting it out; one was emitting a faint red glow from his mask and blade, and the other was using shiny white glyphs.

"I see two people in there! It looks like...Adam and Winter!"

"But then where's Uncle Qrow?"

Blake kept looking to see where Qrow had gone. When she did find Qrow, he was lying face down and wasn't moving.

"Oh no," muttered Blake. Unfortunately for Blake, Ruby overheard Blake's muttering on her scroll.

"What do you mean oh no?" asked Ruby, already sounding distraught.

"Ruby, I wouldn't-"

Ruby instantly ran into the warehouse before anyone else can say another word. The next thing they heard was Ruby screaming at what she found. Blake jumped down to rejoin the others as they followed Ruby inside, finding her standing over Qrow's unconscious body, shaking in horror at the sight of her wounded uncle. As soon as Weiss realized what was wrong, she pulled Ivory away so she wouldn't have to witness such horrifying imagery. While Ruby simply stood in shock, Blake turned over Qrow's body to check if Qrow was still alive as Yang was trying to comfort Ruby.

"Don't tell me...," said Ruby, "please don't tell me he's..."

"I can feel a pulse," said Blake, "but considering the amount of blood he's lost, he needs treatment immediately."

"Stand back!" said Weiss. Using the ice dust in her Myrtenaster, Weiss covered Qrow's wounds with patches of ice. The blood stopped coming out of his body, but his face remained pale and lifeless.

"Uncle Qrow, wake up!" said Ruby, shaking Qrow hard. "It's me, Ruby! Open your eyes, Uncle Qrow!"

"Stop it, Ruby!" said Yang. "You might make it worse!"

Ruby ignored Yang and continued begging her unconscious uncle to show some sign of life, anything to dispel her fears of losing yet another person close to her. As much as Weiss didn't like Qrow, she hated seeing her partner so emotionally distraught.

"He'll pay for this!" said Weiss, running off to aid Winter. Yang and Blake kept trying to snap Ruby out of her funk as she was crying and almost coming down with a full-blown panic attack. None of them were paying attention to Ivory, who looked at Qrow and was realizing the severity of the situation. She was close to losing her real father, and now her other relatives were in danger as well.

 _"My daddy...my mommy...Aunt Weiss...that monster is going to kill them all!"_

Ivory grabbed her security blanket and was going to start crying, but suddenly remembered the last time she broke down crying. Neo had told her that crying was for babies, and she needed to get tough if she wanted to get out of here alive.

 _"No, I can't cry now! My family needs help! I need to get tough and do something to save them, but I don't have any powers except..."_

Although Ivory wasn't a fighter like her family was, she did have the ability to make glyphs. Ivory remembered on some days watching Winter train with her glyphs, using them to summon her own versions of Grimm. One day out of curiosity, Ivory tried to see if she could make a glyph without even knowing it was because of her bloodline she was able to do so.

 _"If I can form a glyph just like mommy can, then maybe...maybe I can summon creatures like mommy can too! I have to summon someone strong enough that can save my family!"_

Meanwhile, Ruby had calmed down long enough to start speaking coherently again.

"What do we do now?" asked Yang.

"We have to get Uncle Qrow out of here!" said Ruby, clinging onto Qrow's body.

"But about Weiss and Winter? We can't leave them to fight this guy alone!"

"I'll stay to help Weiss and Winter!" said Blake. "The two of you tend to Qrow and Ivory!"

"Aw, dammit!" said Yang. "I forgot we also had Ivory! Okay, we'll take Qrow and Ivory..." Yang turned where she expected to see Ivory, only to find out Ivory was suddenly no longer standing next to them.

"Um...where did Ivory go?"

#

Being a top ranking special operative, Winter was trained to keep her emotions in check through even the hardest times. Winter tried to push away any agonizing thoughts of seeing Qrow possibly dead before her eyes and focus on defeating Adam, but her concentration was broken. She kept trying to strike Adam head-on while using her glyphs to block Adam's swings, and Adam easily parried any attack Winter made, absorbing the damage into his sword that he planned to unleash and kill Winter with.

With her swordplay being inefficient, Winter summoned a flock of small Nevermores to surround and attack Adam; Adam quickly struck down every bird that tried to get close with his katana. When the Nevermores didn't work, Winter created a horde of Ursas to charge into Adam; Adam decapitated the first one to reach him, then took out his rifle to shoot the next one through the heart. Adam was barely breaking a sweat as he took out every Grimm Winter summoned, while summoning so many monsters to attack Adam was slowly draining Winter of her aura, causing her to get exhausted. After taking out the last Ursa, Adam turned to Winter and snickered.

"Did you really think you stood a chance, human?" asked Adam. "You've only been fighting to slaughter creatures of Grimm for a handful of years. I've been fighting to survive since the day I was born!"

Winter formed a glyph behind her and lunged at Adam with her saber; Adam stepped aside and fired his rifle at point blank range, blasting Winter back. Adam sheathed his sword and got ready to finish off Winter for good when he noticed Weiss from the corner of his eye, attempting to trap him in ice. Adam jumped back as the ice whiffed past him.

"Another Schnee to the slaughter," said Adam, focusing his attention on Weiss.

"Get out of here, Weiss!" said Winter. "You're not strong enough to handle him!"

"Sorry Winter," said Weiss, "but I can't let this monster get away with what he's done! I'll end this in seconds!"

Weiss switched to her lightning dust and created a haste glyph underneath herself to give her the speed she would need to instantly charge at Adam and kill him before he knew what happened. Adam's mask glowed as he placed his hand on the handle of his katana; he had absorbed enough power to counter anything Weiss could throw at him. Winter knew no matter how fast Weiss could make herself with the aid of her dust, Adam was going to outmatch it and seriously wound her, or possibly even kill her.

Moments before Weiss and Adam charged into each other, Winter formed a pair of glyphs between Weiss and Adam to stop both from reaching each other. Adam fired out his blade as he slashed upwards, expecting to have cut Weiss into two and taking down his first Schnee; instead he and Weiss suddenly found themselves standing several feet apart, a glyph blocking each of them. The blade of Weiss' Myrtenaster suddenly broke apart, leaving only the handle and dust chambers intact. Seeing her weapon cut apart like nothing, Weiss realized just how powerful Adam was, and how she would have wound up the same as her weapon if not for Winter stopping her at the last possible moment. Adam was disappointed he was blocked at the last second, but without a weapon, Weiss was defenseless against him anyway.

"Still think you can end this in seconds?" asked Adam.

"I may not have a blade, but I still have my dust!" said Weiss.

Using her glyphs and ice dust, Weiss formed a new blade for her weapon out of ice to thrust at Adam; Adam took one swing and broke the ice apart. Weiss tried to keep forming new blades to protect herself, but Adam was breaking them apart faster than Weiss can make them. As she tried to form another blade, Adam knocked Weiss' Myrtenaster out of her hand and held the tip of his katana to Weiss' neck, freezing her in place. With nothing left to protect herself, Adam quickly pulled out his rifle and fired at point blank range, taking a severe amount of Weiss' aura away. Now both Schnee sisters were down to dangerously low levels of aura.

"I expected to kill only one child of the Schnee family tonight, and now I get the chance to kill all three!" said Adam. "Now which one of you should I kill first: The first-born military operative, or the heiress to the throne?"

"It will be you that dies here and now, Taurus!" said Winter, pointing her saber towards Adam. The two sisters stood side by side, ready to fight together with whatever strength they had left.

Before the sisters can make the first move, they noticed something glowing behind Adam and looked past him to see what was going on. Adam saw the sisters getting distracted by something and turned around to see Ivory standing several feet behind him, forming a big glyph on the ground.

"What's going on?" asked Weiss.

"It's Ivory!" said Winter. "She's forming some kind of glyph!"

As Ivory was focusing as hard as she could to create her summoning, Blake ran up to grab Ivory and take her out of here.

"Ivory, we need to go!" said Blake, grabbing Ivory's hand.

"No!" said Ivory, breaking Blake's grip. "I need to help my family!"

"But Ivory, you can't-"

"I'M. NOT. LEAVING!" yelled Ivory, going back to forming her summon glyph. She was getting a severe headache and didn't know if she was truly able to summon anything, but she wasn't going to leave her family behind, and once Ivory's mind was made up, it was nearly impossible to get her to change. Blake was about to explain to Ivory why they needed to leave until she looked up and noticed Adam staring at them, a devilish grin forming on his face.

"On second thought," said Adam, "I'll start with the youngest!"

Seeing Adam coming after Ivory, Blake quickly took out her weapon and cut Adam off.

"I'm warning you, darling! Continue getting in my way and I'll dispose of you like the Schnees!"

"Tell me Adam!" said Blake. "What is killing the girl going to accomplish? How will this help your so-called Faunus Revolution?"

"The revolution cannot progress as long as any member of the Schnee Family is still alive!"

"You're no revolutionary, Adam! You're just a terrorist!"

While Adam and Blake were dueling, Ruby and Yang were still standing by their uncle. Yang was at a lost on what to do; Ruby wanted to leave to save Qrow, Ivory wanted to stay to save her family, and the others were trying to stall Adam as long as they could. If Yang decided to leave with Ruby and Qrow, she'd be abandoning Ivory and her team, and if she stayed to fight Adam, she might wind up in the same condition as Qrow, leaving Ruby with yet another nearly dead family member to burden.

 _"God dammit!"_ thought Yang, gripping her fists so tight she nearly pierced her own palms. _"What the hell am I supposed to do? No matter if I jump in or not, I'd be leaving one of my teammates behind!"_

As Yang was stalling on deciding, Adam was getting the best of Blake. Even when Blake was trying not to hold back on Adam, Adam far outmatched Blake in combat. He knocked Gambol Shroud out of Blake's hands and knocked her to the ground, pressing his foot on the back of Blake's neck. Seeing Blake about to be seriously harmed, Yang started to run towards Adam when she was suddenly grabbed from behind by Ruby.

"Yang, wait!" yelled Ruby. "You might-"

"Sorry Ruby, I don't have a choice!" replied Yang. "Let me go before it's too late!"

"But Yang, I don't...you..."

As Blake struggled to free herself from Adam, Adam took out his katana and pointed it down over her back.

"Farewell, my darling!"

As Adam raised his katana, a bright flash of light suddenly went off nearby, catching everyone's attention. Everyone turned to the source of the bright flash, which was over the glyph created by Ivory. The flash caused Ivory to suddenly fall over and gave her a pounding headache. As Ivory was rubbing her eyes, she looked up to see someone standing in the glyph she made; the person was glowing pure white, made entirely out of aura. Ivory gasped and was shocked that her summoning technique worked. Weiss and Winter couldn't believe Ivory pulled it off as well.

"She...she really did it!" said Winter. "Ivory summoned her own creation!"

"But who or what is that?" asked Weiss.

Whatever this being Ivory summoned was, they were wearing a suit and a tattered cloak, and were carrying a glowing white scythe in their right hand, which looked exactly like the one carried by a certain veteran huntsman. Yang looked down at her fallen uncle, then back to the glowing being. The similarities were way too identical to be merely a coincidence.

"Is that...Uncle Qrow?" asked Yang.

"But does that mean..." Ruby quickly held two fingers to Qrow's throat and felt a faint pulse. Ruby was relieved that Qrow was alive, but it still didn't explain who this doppelganger Ivory somehow summoned was.

While everyone else was stunned and distracted by Ivory's summon, Adam saw it as the perfect moment to go after Ivory and charged towards her. The glowing being sensed Adam coming after Ivory and hastily charged at Adam, swinging his scythe to keep Adam at bay. That's when everyone could get a better look at the being's face, which resembled the head of a crow.

"What the hell are you?" asked Adam.

"The name's Murdo, boy!" spoke the summoned being in a familiar gruff voice. Hearing Murdo speak, Ruby instantly recognized who Murdo was.

"That's Ivory's drawing of Uncle Qrow!" said Ruby.

"That explains why he sounds like him," said Yang.

"So, you're just a copied image of that fool I've already taken out," said Adam. "I'll just get rid of you all the same!"

"Don't count on it, boy," replied Murdo, smirking in the same manner as Qrow. Murdo held his scythe across his back and waited for Adam to make the first move.

 _"Just as foolishly arrogant!"_ thought Adam.

Adam shot his katana out to decapitate Murdo; Murdo bent backwards to avoid the attack and then swung his scythe at Adam; the scythe phased through Adam, but Adam can feel a portion of his aura being drained from the attack. Murdo kept his scythe behind his back and hastily rotated his body along with his scythe; Adam blocked Murdo's swings with his katana. Murdo stopped spinning and held his scythe up high; Adam jumped back as Murdo swung his scythe down and planted it on the ground. With Murdo's scythe in the ground, Adam believed it gave him a perfect opening to strike. Adam moved in to slash Murdo; using the handle of his scythe, Murdo jumped up and avoided Adam. Balancing on the handle of his scythe with his hands, Murdo rotated his body and dropkicked Adam in the face, then picked his scythe back up as he hurled himself into the air and swung down with all his might as Adam was reeling back; Adam rolled out of the way just before he would have been chopped by Murdo's scythe.

As Murdo was dueling with Adam, Weiss and Winter ran over to check on Ivory.

"Are you okay, Ivory?" asked Weiss.

"My head really hurts," said Ivory.

"Ivory, how long have you been able to do this?" asked Winter.

"I don't know. I just remember seeing you summon monsters with glyphs, so I tried to summon one of the monsters I drew."

"But our family can only summon monsters we've slain, not create out of thin air!" said Weiss.

"I guess Ivory's semblance is a bit different from our own," said Winter. "I'm more confused as to how Murdo is fighting like that."

"I learned it from watching Ruby," said Ivory. She remembered in great detail how Ruby fought with her scythe against the White Fang grunts, and since her weapon was very similar to Qrow's, Ivory passed on that knowledge to Murdo.

Having Ruby's agility with handling a scythe, Murdo could dodge Adam's attacks with ease while staying on the offensive, giving Adam no chance to land a successful hit on Murdo. Murdo wound his arms back and went for a big swing with his scythe; Adam ducked under the scythe, leaving Murdo wide open for an attack. Adam quickly got close to Murdo and sliced through Murdo with his katana; as the blade cut through Murdo, Ivory suddenly felt a severe sharp pain in her body, almost as if she had been stabbed herself. Ivory let out a loud cry as she fell to her knees, holding her stomach.

"Ivory, what's wrong?" asked Weiss.

"My body!" cried Ivory. "It hurts really bad, and I feel something..." Ivory made regurgitation sounds and spat up a heaping amount of blood. Weiss and Winter were very alarmed from Ivory suddenly spitting up blood. Winter noticed Murdo fell to his knees as well; the expression on his face looked like Ivory's, as if he was going through the same amount of pain she was.

"Murdo's aura is connected directly to Ivory's!" said Winter.

"But Ivory doesn't have an aura!" said Weiss. "She's not even a fighter!"

With Murdo suddenly down his knees, Adam sliced through Murdo again, causing Ivory to once again cry out in pain.

"Make it stop!" cried Ivory. Murdo himself was starting to fade away, his scythe completely disappearing from his hands.

"We have to save her summoning!" said Winter. "If her summon dies, she might die as well!"

Winter took out her saber and rushed towards Adam while Weiss kept an eye on Ivory. Winter had no strategy or plan to stop Adam outside of trying to land any attack she could. Adam used his katana to block Winter's attacks, building up his semblance with every block. Once Adam felt he had built enough strength, he easily knocked Winter's weapon out of her hand, then slashed Winter across her chest, draining the last of her aura. Adam sheathed his blade and got ready to use his signature technique when he suddenly felt something grab his leg. He looked down to see Gambol Shroud wrapped around his ankle, preventing him from moving in for the kill. While Blake distracted him, Weiss created a glyph to trap him in place, but with her aura already weak as it was, it wasn't going to take much for Adam to break free.

With Murdo and everyone else down for the count, Yang tried to go over and help but was once again grabbed by Ruby.

"Ruby, they need me!" said Yang. "Let go!"

"No!" said Ruby. "I'm not going to lose another family member!"

"Sorry Ruby, but I have to step in! That Murdo thing was our best chance and he's almost dead!"

Ruby didn't want lose any more of her family, but Yang was right; Murdo appeared to be the only one capable of defeating Adam, but in his weakened state, he no longer had a weapon to fight back.

 _"If Murdo still had his weapon he could..."_ Ruby suddenly had an epiphany and let go of Yang. "Wait! I've got an idea!"

Ruby reached behind Qrow and pulled out his weapon, handing it to Yang.

"What's this for?" asked Yang.

"If Murdo is just like Uncle Qrow, then he should know how to use his weapon!" said Ruby. "Throw it now!"

"Murdo, catch!" yelled Yang, throwing Qrow's sword towards Murdo. Murdo looked up and saw Qrow's weapon. Having Ivory's knowledge of Qrow's weapon when he was first created as a doodle, Murdo knew exactly what to do. Murdo stood up and grabbed Qrow's sword, then immediately activated the scythe mode.

Meanwhile, Adam broke free from Weiss' glyph and cut off Gambol Shroud. Seething with a desire to draw blood, Adam pondered whether he should kill the Schnees or the traitor first. Considering his grudge against the Schnees, Adam decided they would be the first to die. Adam turned to the three Schnee women, his mask and sword glowing their brightest red.

"For the Faunus!" yelled Adam, charging towards the Schnee women, aiming to take them all down with one swing.

As Adam was about one second away from wiping out the Schnee family, Murdo suddenly came down from above and stood in Adam's way, swinging Qrow's scythe towards Adam's head. Adam was too late to stop himself as the pointed end of the scythe penetrated through Adam's mask and ripped across Adam's face. Adam's mask was shattered to pieces as he was propelled back from the force of the blow. Adam fell to his knees screaming in pain and cursing out the humans, holding one hand to cover his eyes as blood was seeping through his fingers.

"That's what I call an eye for an eye!" said Yang.

Before the rescue squad can breathe a sigh of relief that Adam was done for, Murdo suddenly dropped Qrow's weapon and was fading from existence. Weiss looked down at Ivory, who appeared to be losing consciousness herself. Ivory's vision went blurry as she was losing the feeling in her legs.

"Ivory, if you can hear me, say something!" said Weiss, trying to get Ivory to look at her and speak up.

Ivory could hear Weiss but couldn't understand what she was saying. As she felt her consciousness slipping away, the last thing she could remember was everyone calling out to her before she blacked out.

#

When Ivory woke up, she found herself in a bed wearing a paper gown. Standing at her bedside were Winter, Weiss, and Yang. As soon as Ivory opened her eyes, everyone let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Good morning, Ivory," said Winter.

"Mommy?" said Ivory. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"We're in the hospital. You passed out after that battle we had with the White Fang."

"Where's daddy?" asked Ivory, worried something bad had happened. "Is he dead?"

"Uncle Qrow's okay," said Yang. "He suffered some serious wounds, but he'll recover overtime. He's upstairs with the others; seems pretty happy for a guy who had a hole in his gut."

"Then what about that monster who kidnapped me? Did you capture him?"

"I'm afraid not," said Winter. "Adam was able to escape while we were all making sure you were okay."

"But man!" said Yang. "That thing you created landed some serious hits, Ivory! You made a freaking badass out there!"

Yang smiled and gave Ivory a big thumbs up to reassure everything was fine, but Ivory didn't feel that way. Ivory covered her eyes and cried, feeling guilty for being the cause for all this.

"This is all my fault!" said Ivory. "If I didn't act like such a brat, none of this would have happened!"

"It wasn't your fault, Ivory," said Weiss. "This was all the White Fang's doing."

"But if I had just made up with mommy and daddy, I wouldn't have been kidnapped, and daddy wouldn't have gotten hurt! He must really hate me for this!"

"Trust me, he doesn't," said Yang. "You're not the first family member he's had that ran off and got themselves in serious danger."

"I know Qrow doesn't show it," said Winter, "but he does care about you, Ivory. He wouldn't-"

Winter was suddenly interrupted by her scroll ringing. As soon as Winter saw the name of the caller, she felt a chill run down her spine.

"Excuse me," said Winter, getting up to leave the room.

"Who is it?" asked Weiss, but Winter ignored Weiss and went out to a staircase to get some privacy. Winter took a deep breath and answered her scroll.

"Hello, father," said Winter.

"Good morning, Winter," said Jacques. "How is Ivory?"

"Ivory's doing well."

"Really? Even after she was taken hostage by the White Fang?"

"...how much do you know?"

"Ironwood has filled me in on everything, including the fact that Qrow knows he's the real father."

Winter felt her stomach twist into knots. She was afraid of this moment the day Qrow found out about Ivory, putting Winter's deal with her father in jeopardy.

"Then I assume you've called to let me know our agreement is over?" asked Winter.

"That is what I planned to do," said Jacques, "but Ironwood was insistent that you did everything possible to keep our agreement intact. Therefore, I've decided on a new proposal: I want you to decide who you would rather be with."

"What do you mean?"

"You can choose to come home where you and Ivory belong, and therefore Ivory's future remains safe and secure as long as she never sees her worthless father again...or you stay in Vale with the man who ruined your life and throw away Ivory's future, along with any connection you have to the Schnee family inheritance. I expect your answer soon."

Jacques hung up on Winter. Winter took a seat on the staircase to figure out what she wanted to do. In her heart, she wanted so badly to go with Qrow and finally be free from her father's grasp, but in her mind, she needed to stay in Atlas because that was best for Ivory.

The more she thought about the decision she needed to make, the more she realized she couldn't make this decision by herself. She got up and went to talk to the one person she needed to the most.

#

Adam and his Lieutenant were meeting with Cinder and her cohorts. Adam's eyes were bandaged up, requiring a few weeks for his aura to heal them fully before he can see again. If not for the mask blocking his eyes, he would have gone permanently blind. When Cinder was informed that the White Fang decided to act on their own, she was furious. Perhaps if they had succeeded she might have forgiven them, but since that wasn't the case, Cinder had to try maintaining her cool instead of burning these stupid animals where they stood.

"I thought I made it perfectly clear you were to lay low until my plan went into action!" said Cinder. "Because of your little hostage affair, they're going to be even more vigilant than they are now, and that could lead to everything I have planned to be ruined!"

"What are you going to do then?" said Adam.

"Lucky for you, nothing...yet!"

Since Adam couldn't see, Cinder held her hand close to Adam's face and created a fireball, making sure Adam felt the intense heat resonating from it.

"But the next time I catch you and the rest of the White Fang disobeying orders...I'll have your entire clan wiped out."

Adam was not one to be intimidated by threats, especially by a human. But knowing how powerful and dangerous Cinder was, in his current condition, now was not the best time to stand up to her. Adam turned around and signaled to his Lieutenant it was time to leave. The Lieutenant was mad at the way Cinder was talking to Adam and decided to speak up.

"You're lucky the boss doesn't allow me to just kill you right now," said the Lieutenant.

"You want to try, big boy?" asked Cinder without a trace of fear in her voice as her right eyeball lit up. Something about the way Cinder looked at him with no intimidation made the Lieutenant decide to back off before he made a fatal mistake and left with Adam.

As soon as the Faunus rebels were out of sight, Cinder's henchmen spoke up.

"Aligning with the White Fang was a mistake," said Emerald. "We should kill those animals now before they screw things up for us further!"

"I'm down with that," said Mercury.

"The boy is still a valuable ally," said Cinder. "We'll let him and that little army of his live for now. Besides, once I get what I deserve, they won't matter to us anyway."

Before Cinder retired to her quarters, she decided to speak to Neo about her role in this incident.

"By the way, Neo, Adam said you were conspicuously absent during that whole ordeal. What were you doing, exactly?"

"Just doing what you told me to do," typed Neo.

"Well, no matter. As long as my plans are still in place, everything will go the way I intended. You can go now."

Neo walked off and smiled to herself. In the end, Neo was able to make a cool five million lien, sitting nicely in her offshore bank account, and no one was the wiser as to how she sabotaged the White Fang from within. Neo didn't care about whatever Cinder was after, nor was she interested in ever helping those stupid mutts; at the end of the day, Neo's true loyalty lied only with Roman Torchwick.

#

Team RWBY were in Qrow's room, who was sharing the stories about the various scars marked across his body.

"Now this one on my shoulder I got when an Ursa Major bit down and pierced right through to the bone. Hurt like a motherfucker, but makes a great icebreaker with the ladies."

"Ugh," said a disgusted Weiss. "I highly doubt that."

"Now, this one on my hip? Deathstalker had me in its grasp; if I didn't break that thing's pincer off, it would have cut my body in half."

"It almost sounds like your proud of having these scars," said Blake.

"Damn straight! Every scar you see here is proof of my survival against the worst the world throws at me. Besides, my worst scars aren't on my body," said Qrow, pointing up to his head. "They're up here."

As Qrow continued to regale his guests with stories about his scars, Winter knocked on Qrow's door to get his attention.

"You're in awfully good spirits for someone in your condition," said Winter.

"Hey there, ice queen," said Qrow. "Is Ivory okay?"

"Ivory's fine," said Winter. "She'll just need to recover here for a couple of days."

"That's a relief. Anyway, the big one on my back-"

"I'd hate to interrupt your stories, but girls, if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone with Qrow."

The girls nodded and left Qrow's room so the two of them can be alone. Winter pulled up a chair and sat beside Qrow. Seeing how Winter wanted to be alone, Qrow knew that whatever Winter needed to talk about was going to be serious.

"What did you need to tell me?" asked Qrow.

"My father called," said Winter. "He's given me an ultimatum: I go back to Atlas and you never see Ivory again, or Ivory and I stay in Vale and we lose all ties to the family name."

"Are we going to discuss it or have you already decided?" asked Qrow.

"I've thought about it. Obviously, whatever I choose would determine Ivory's future. If I choose my father, Ivory has an easy life and a career all lined up. If I choose you, who knows what will happen to Ivory. Her schooling and treatment will be nothing compared to what my father can afford."

"I guess this is the part where I should be telling you to stay with me and I promise to make everything work, but then I'd be full of shit. What are you going to do?"

"I've decided that since Ivory will be the one most affected by this decision...she's the one who's going to make it."

On cue, Ivory came into Qrow's room and stood on the other side of Qrow's bed.

"Hello daddy," said Ivory.

"Hello little ice princess," said Qrow. "I assume you know why you're here?"

"Because papa wants mommy to either go to Atlas or stay with you. Mommy told me the truth about everything involving you, papa, and I. She told me how she honestly felt about both of you, and that she would go with whatever I decided."

"And your decision is?"

"I thought about it all on my own, and after considering everything mommy told me...staying with papa is the better choice. He has the resources to protect me and help me cope with my disabilities, and because of your high-risk job, I can lose you any time you go out on a mission. Not to mention how emotionally unstable you are because of your PTSD."

Being a man who always said what was on his mind and never backed down from telling the truth, Qrow wasn't surprised by Ivory's decision. Qrow hated Jacques Schnee, but he knew it was more beneficial for Ivory to stay with Jacques rather than himself.

"Well kid, I don't blame you for choosing to go back to Atlas. Maybe I'll see you again in about ten years, if the Grimm or my addictions don't kill me by then."

"But daddy...we're not going to Atlas! I said it was the better choice, but I don't want to go back to Atlas. I want to stay in Vale with you!"

Ivory expected Qrow to suddenly smile and be happy that Ivory chose him over her grandfather, but instead Qrow sat up and checked the IV bag containing the morphine.

"No, I definitely didn't overdo it on morphine, and I can usually tell when I'm in a dream. You really want to stay here?"

"Yes!" said Ivory enthusiastically. "Doesn't that make you happy?"

"More like confused. I mean, you do realize how much you're giving up to not live with papa, don't you? Why in the hell would you choose me, the guy who doubted your mental disability, over your filthy rich grandfather?"

"It is true papa is wealthy, and it's true you haven't been understanding of my disability...but there was one reason why I decided to stay here. Because you can do something that papa cannot." Ivory looked up to her mother and smiled. "You make mommy happy."

Qrow looked at Winter with a raised eyebrow, as if to ask Winter if she really meant what she told Ivory. Winter smiled and nodded back at Qrow.

"Maybe I do make mommy happy sometimes," said Qrow, "but has she also told you how I drive her crazy?"

"I know. Mommy says there are sometimes where she hates you so much, especially with the way you've spoken to me, but Pyrrha told me you can't judge a book by its cover, and while you appear to be a jerk who thinks my disability isn't a big deal, mommy says it's really because you're worried about me, and you don't want me to suffer the same problems you do because you love me."

Ivory leaned over and wrapped her arms around Qrow.

"And that's why I love you, too."

Qrow didn't have the strength to bend over and hug Ivory, so he simply placed his hand on top of Ivory's head and smiled.

"Just so we're clear," said Qrow, "you're really staying in Vale? You're not just saying this to not upset me or the kid, right?"

Winter rolled her eyes and sighed. Qrow wasn't kidding when he said he drove Winter crazy.

"Of course we are, you ass!" said Winter. "Must you ruin such a perfectly happy moment?"

"Sorry, ice queen! I'm not used to having genuine happy moments!"

Winter rolled her eyes and shook her head, then leaned over to hug Qrow as well. Even with Qrow acting like his usual self, Winter couldn't be happier. Winter was finally free from her father and the cursed Schnee family name, but more importantly, Ivory was finally going to be with her real parents.


	10. One Beautiful Day (plus epilogue)

**A/N: Welcome to the final chapter! Since it was relatively short, I decided to include the epilogue as well. The chapter and epilogue are mostly fluff, so enjoy the good feels.**

* * *

It had been a crazy month for Winter. After informing her father that she was going to stay in Vale with Ivory and Qrow, she was officially cut off from anything to do with the Schnee Family inheritance. She continued her time in Vale going over the final security measurements for the Vytal Festival, as well as trying to improve her relationship with Qrow and helping him become the father Ivory needed. Winter was in her room, thinking about how everything had changed so much for her in just the span of a month, and now, today was going to be one of the biggest changes in her life.

By the end of the day, she was going to be known as Winter Schnee Branwen.

As Winter was putting the finishing touches on her wedding gown, Weiss came in to inform Winter of the guests arriving.

"The guests are all here," said Weiss. "We'll be ready to go in a few minutes."

"How about father?" asked Winter. "Is he here?"

"Thankfully, no."

"Oh well," said Winter, not sounding the least bit bothered that their father refused to come. "At least no one can say I didn't invite him."

"Speaking of family, where's Ivory?"

"In here!" said Ivory inside the changing room. She came out wearing her pure black dress, along with the ring pillow holding the rings she was to give to Qrow and Winter during the ceremony. "How do I look?"

"To be honest," said Weiss, "I still find it weird you decided to wear black."

"But I wanted a dress to match daddy's color! I'm going to be Ivory Schwarz Schnee Branwen now!"

"That's not how it works, Ivory."

"Why not?"

"It just...never mind. I'll explain it later."

After Weiss left, Winter was looking over Ivory's dress and nearly shed a tear at how beautiful her daughter looked.

"Well I think you look wonderful in that color," said Winter.

"Do you think papa will like it?" asked Ivory.

"I don't know. Papa isn't coming today."

"He's not? Is it because he's still mad at you about staying in Vale?"

"papa was never one to let go of old grudges. It's likely we'll never see each other again, and I could not care less to never see that man again."

"Mommy...can I be honest with you about papa?"

"Of course you can!"

"I know papa and you don't get along, but I liked working beside him! He knows so much about how to run a business, and someday, I might want to work for the Schnee Dust Company!"

Winter didn't like the thought of Ivory working for the company that has long since been tainted by their father's imperious business practices, but as much as Winter and Qrow hated Jacques Schnee and vice versa, Ivory still loved and respected the man for what he taught her, and if any family member had a chance of getting back into Jacques' good graces, it was his granddaughter.

"Ivory," said Winter, "if that's really what you want to do, I'll support you all the way."

"Well, what I really want to do is start my own business. I was thinking of taking my drawings and starting a real series based on them. I can create a TV show and toys and comic books and all sorts of stuff. Working besides papa in his company can give me insight and his resources! I can make the most popular toys in the world!"

Winter smiled and gave Ivory a tight hug.

"And I'll know you be able to do so," said Winter.

Another knock was heard from the door. Winter got up to open to door; standing by was Ironwood, who due to the absence of Jacques Schnee, would fulfill the role of the father giving away the bride.

"Miss Schnee, it's time," said Ironwood.

"Are you sure you're comfortable about doing this?" asked Winter. "You can still back out if you want to."

"Is this about your father? Or is it because of the man I'm 'giving you away' to?"

"Both, honestly."

"Let me dispel any doubts you may have, Miss Schnee; I'm honored to be doing this for you, and if your father has a problem with it, he can take it up with me. As for Qrow...as long as he makes you and Ivory happy, it doesn't matter how I feel."

Ironwood held out his arm to Winter and smiled. "Now then, on to the ceremony."

#

Winter didn't want to wait upwards of a year to officially be married to Qrow, but without the backing of her father's money and Qrow recently having to pay off his medical bills, they barely had the finances for a regular wedding. With the help of the Beacon staff, they were able to throw together a small wedding to take place inside Beacon, with the sparring auditorium being used to hold the ceremony, and the party to be held in the dance hall. In a way, Winter preferred it so; she would rather have a cheap wedding with the man she loves surrounded by close friends than an expensive wedding paid for by her father and to a man he would have set her up with to make sure he remained in control of the Schnee name.

While Winter and Ivory were getting ready, the crowd was filling up. Since family was sparse on both sides for different reasons, the bride's side consisted mostly of special operatives who served with Ironwood, and the groom's side consisted of Beacon staff members and huntsmen, save for Ozpin serving as the wedding officiant. Team RWBY would be the bridesmaids, Weiss taking maid of honor, while Qrow's groomsmen consisted of Oobleck, Port, and Taiyang as his best man.

Qrow was standing by the altar, sweating to the point that he felt like he was doused in water.

"You feeling all right, Qrow?" asked Tai.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" said Qrow. "I'm really going to be a married man. I'm going to wake up tomorrow next to my wife. The thought of it all just makes me feel so..."

Qrow reached into his inner jacket pocket looking for something. Tai was worried that Qrow was going to pull out his flask and got ready to snatch it the moment he had the chance. Instead, Qrow pulled out a bottle of water and gulped it down quickly.

"I wish we did this indoors. I frigging hate this suit."

"I see you've started taking those twelve steps," said Tai.

"Three down, nine to go."

Tai smiled and patted Qrow on the back. "I'm proud of you, Qrow."

As soon as the bride's theme was playing, everyone stood up and turned their attention to the aisle as Ironwood and Winter walked down. Winter took her place standing next to Qrow and the ceremony started with Ozpin's opening speech.

"Friends, family, and huntsmen of Beacon and Atlas, we are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Winter Schnee and Qrow Branwen, and to grace them with our love and best wishes. Should there be anyone here who opposes this union, let them speak now, or they shall forever hold their peace."

Even though Jacques had refused to show up, Qrow expected at least one other person to speak up and object. He shifted his eyes towards Team RWBY and thought Weiss was going to say something. Weiss was shocked when she heard that Winter was going to marry Qrow, and as awkward as it was going to be for Qrow to be her brother-in-law, Weiss accepted Winter's decision. After a few moments passed with nobody standing up to make an objection, Ozpin continued the ceremony.

"Now then, the bride and groom will now share their personal vows."

"I'll begin," said Winter. Winter and Qrow turned to each other and held each other's hands. "Qrow, we've had our ups and downs - ESPECIALLY the downs - but I couldn't be happier standing next to you today, ready to share the rest of my life with you. Our story to this point may not have been as romantic or glamorous, but the important part is that it has a happy ending, and I know you're going to be a wonderful father to Ivory."

"Qrow, you may now share your vows."

"Well," said Qrow, "I didn't actually prepare anything, so I'm just going to speak from the heart. To be honest Winter, as much as I love being up here with you...I wouldn't exactly call this a happy ending. A happy ending means everything is made right and everyone gets to go home happy, but that's not the case here. Tomorrow we'll be husband and wife, and Ivory will get to see her real parents together at last, but there's still plenty of things that will remain the same. For example, it's not like Ivory and I are suddenly going to be cured of our disabilities; we're stuck with them for the rest of our lives. We still have to go back to our jobs of protecting the people of Remnant; for all we know, one of us might meet our untimely fate. Then of course there's your farther, who I doubt is going to forgive you anytime soon, if ever."

Winter was starting to feel uneasy from Qrow's vows. Of course their lives weren't going to suddenly be perfect, but she at least wanted this one day to get away from the troubles they were going to endure and were still enduring.

Before Winter got truly upset, Qrow lifted Winter's face by her chin and smiled.

"But whatever problems we face, we won't have to do it alone, and I couldn't ask for a better partner than the best special operative in the world."

Winter shed a few tears, this time from the joy of hearing that one sentence coming out of Qrow's lips. Winter would have locked lips with Qrow right then and there if they still didn't need to do the ring exchange first.

"The bride and groom will now exchange their rings to symbolize their union. Will the ring girl please step forward?"

The audience turned to the back of the aisle to see Ivory come down with the rings. Ivory took a few steps forward, but then suddenly stopped where she was. After looking at everyone around her, she started shaking as if she was too frightened to keep going. The audience started to murmur about Ivory hesitating.

"Oh no," said Winter. "She's being overwhelmed."

"I'll take care of it," said Weiss. But before Weiss can move, Qrow suddenly ran over to check on Ivory. Qrow got on one knee and held Ivory by her shoulders.

"Having trouble, Ivory?" asked Qrow.

"Everyone is looking at me," whispered Ivory. "I can't do this."

"Close your eyes, Ivory, and take a deep breath." Ivory took a deep breath and closed her eyes tight. "Now, imagine you're at the ceremony honoring the brave warrior Pyrrha for all the evil monsters she has defeated, and you are presenting her with the crown commemorating her accomplishments. Everyone is facing forward to get a glimpse of Pyrrha, paying no mind to the little crown girl."

Ivory imagined the scenario in her head. She pictured Pyrrha kneeling at the altar in front of the king as the audience cheered and wanted to see the world renown hero Pyrrha. With nobody looking at Ivory, Ivory walked forward so she can present the crown.

Ivory walked down the aisle with her eyes closed as Qrow kept guiding her to the altar. Everyone was gushing at Qrow helping his child; whatever doubts Ironwood and Weiss were having about Qrow being a good father were instantly casted out.

"Okay Ivory, you can open your eyes now." Ivory opened her eyes to suddenly see herself standing in front of Winter and Qrow with the rings. With Ivory now in place, Ozpin began the part everyone was waiting for.

"Qrow Branwen, do you take Winter Schnee to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," said Qrow, taking the ring and placing it on Winter's finger.

"Winter Schnee, do you take Qrow Branwen to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," said Winter, taking the ring and placing it on Qrow's finger.

"Then with the power vested in me by Vale's council, I hereby pronounce this man and this woman, husband and wife. You may now-"

Winter and Qrow didn't let Ozpin finish as they immediately wrapped their arms around each other and kissed each other, now officially married. As everyone clapped and cheered for the new couple, Ivory tried to hug both. The bridesmaids and groomsmen gathered around to congratulate them.

"That was so beautiful!" said Ruby, tears flowing down like a river. "This is the best wedding I've ever seen!"

"This is the only wedding we've ever seen," remarked Yang.

"What a glorious ceremony!" said Port. "I can't wait for the party!"

"Just try to contain your excitement, old friend," said Oobleck.

"Congratulations, you two," said Ozpin. "I wish you the best of luck."

"I have a feeling I'm going to need it," said Qrow.

"Why is that?" asked Winter.

"Like I said, we still have to defend Remnant. With the Vytal Festival coming up soon and who knows what with the White Fang, I feel like something big is going to happen."

"Funny you should say that, because..."

"Because what?"

"I can tell you for certain that something big is going to happen soon."

Everyone around the couple were confused and a bit worried about what Winter was saying.

"How soon are we talking?" asked Qrow seriously.

"Let's just say we won't have to worry too much about it for...nine months?"

"Nine months?" As soon as Qrow heard that amount of time, he felt like he saw his life flash before his eyes. "You...you mean...?"

Winter's face was turning red as everyone was thinking the same thing Qrow was. In case they didn't get the hint, Ivory decided to spell it out for them.

"I think mommy is pregnant!" said Ivory. Winter nodded to confirm she was in fact carrying Qrow's second child. Weiss wasn't happy to find out she was going to be an aunt to yet another child.

"For the love of God, Winter!" said Weiss. "I can't have two nieces at such a young age!"

"It could be a nephew," said Blake.

"Shut up!" replied Weiss, not in the mood to have her grammar corrected. While Weiss was upset about feeling like an old hag, Ruby and Yang were excited at the prospect of having a baby cousin on the way.

"What should we name the new baby?" asked Yang.

"It has to be either the color white or black," said Ruby. "Oh, it should be grey!"

As Ruby and Yang were coming up with baby names, Ivory ran up to Weiss to get her attention.

"Aunt Weiss?" said Ivory. Just hearing the word "aunt" was making Weiss feel old.

"What is it, Ivory?" asked Weiss.

"Before the baby comes, can you teach me how to be a good older sister?"

"Maybe you should ask your cousin Yang. She's a real older sister after all."

"I know, but I wanted to ask you because you're a lot smarter than she is."

Hearing that remark instantly pissed off Yang, and seeing Yang ticked off brightened Weiss' mood.

"I'll teach you everything I know!" said Weiss.

"You're lucky you're part of my family now, Ivory!" said Yang.

As the girls were celebrating the news, most of the Beacon staff members were congratulating Qrow on the future child. Goodwitch of course was not pleased to see Qrow being irresponsible yet again.

"You never learn, do you Qrow?" said Goodwitch.

"Now Glynda," said Ozpin, "while this is somewhat unexpected, we've seen how Qrow is with Ivory. I have no doubt he'll be just fine with the new one."

"Congrats, old pal!" said Tai. "You're going to be a two-time daddy like me!"

Tai smiled and placed his arm around Qrow's shoulder. Tai may have been excited for Qrow, but Qrow looked like he was scared for his well-being.

"Qrow, is something wrong?"

"I just...I'm going to be a real father this time," said Qrow. "Me...a father...to a second child no less!"

"And you're not excited about it?"

"Hell no!" yelled Qrow. "The diaper changing, shopping for clothes, the constant crying, not to mention having to wake up at three in the morning to feed them! No offense Tai, but I've had Grimm missions that were far less terrorizing!"

"Don't worry, Qrow. It's all part of the fun of being a dad!"

"Maybe for you, but..."

Qrow suddenly stopped when he saw Ironwood walk up to him, not looking pleased with Qrow acting like he didn't want to be raising another child.

"Look James, I know what I just said, but I assure you I'm going to be-"

"Congratulations," said Ironwood, pulling a 1000-Lien card out of his coat pocket and handing it to Qrow. "Think of this as a very early baby shower present. If you ever need a sitter for the children, Uncle James is more than happy to help out."

"Wow...thank you, James," said Qrow, genuinely surprised to see the guy he ragged on for so many years being supportive.

"Well honey," said Winter, "we still have a party to go to. Then afterwards we can look into getting a new house. Your place is not going to be big enough for our new family."

"Can we focus on one thing at a time?" asked Qrow. "I'm still trying to contemplate the fact that you're carrying my second kid."

"Actually," said Ivory, "mommy never said how many she was carrying. She might be having twins!"

"That is a possibility," said Winter.

Qrow moaned as if he was going to throw up. Having one new baby was going to be hard enough, but just the thought of having multiples of them at once was giving him the urge to start drinking again.

"Is something wrong, daddy?" asked Ivory.

Qrow smiled and ruffled Ivory's hair. If he was going to have a second child - or however many children Winter was planning - he wouldn't mind if they each turned out exactly like Ivory.

"Everything's fine, Ivory," said Qrow. "Now let's go have some cake!"

Qrow held Ivory's hand and wrapped an arm around Winter, lightly patting Winter's stomach. Together they walked down the aisle to the dance hall, towards their new life together as a family.

* * *

 ** _Epilogue: 15 Years Later_**

As the years went by and the War on Salem raged throughout all of Remnant, the injuries and old age caught up to Qrow. His collection of scars now expanded all over his body, and his hair had turned completely grey. As much as Qrow wanted to be there for Ruby when she lead her friends into battle against Salem, his body was not up to the task; he could barely walk around without the assistance of his cane. With his physical mobility limited, he was forced to help from the sidelines rather than the front line in his later years.

With his field days behind him, Qrow focused on teaching the next generation of huntsmen at his old stomping grounds of Signal Academy, should another great war suddenly occur.

"Designing a weapon is more than just about calculating the recoils of the bullets and the sharpness of the blade," said Qrow. "The best weapons are the ones that compliments your fighting style. A truly good weapon is an extension of yourself, like having a third arm by your side. Anyone can learn to wield a sword or fire a gun; the experts know which weapon works best."

As Qrow looked out to his crowd of students, in the back row he caught a student napping at his desk. The student had slick black hair, and if his eyes weren't closed, you would notice how bright crystal blue they were like his mother's. Qrow went to his desk and made a makeshift gun with a rubber band and paper clip. Qrow fired the paper clip at the sleeping student, nailing him in the forehead and instantly waking him up.

"Good afternoon, Jet!" said Qrow. "Enjoy your nap?"

Jet could hear the students laughing around him, but like his father, he tried to play it cool.

"Very much so, yes," replied Jet.

"Does my class bore you, Jet?"

"Kind of."

"Oh really? You think knowing the importance of making a good weapon is boring?"

"Maybe you should teach something actually interesting!"

Jet's nonchalant replies got some 'oohs' from his classmates. Qrow rubbed the temple of his nose; now he knew how his old friends felt around him back in his field days.

"See me after class, Jet."

After the class ended, the classroom quickly filed out, leaving Qrow alone with his obnoxious teenage son.

"It's bad enough you're sleeping during the class," said Qrow, "but you haven't completed any of the assignments I've given you. You think because you're my son, you're going to get away with this?"

"Why do you have to give me so much homework over weapon crafting in the first place?" whined Jet.

"Because if you want to be a true huntsman like I was, you need to know your weapon in and out. Every single detail is important."

"It can't be that important! You combine a blade with a gun and take down some Grimm!"

Qrow sighed and pulled out the bottle of water he kept in his desk. It was times like this he almost regret ever giving up drinking.

"That must be the Schnee blood talking, because you sure as hell didn't get it from me, Jet."

"Then maybe I should go to Atlas Military Academy like mom!"

"Go ahead. If ten-hour school days are your thing, I won't stop you."

"Ten...hours?"

"Just in your freshman year. It bumps up to twelve the year after."

"Um..."

Having made his son look like a fool, Qrow smiled and handed Jet his makeup assignments.

"I look forward to your design," said Qrow.

"Is this how you treated Ruby and Yang?" asked Jet.

"Yeah, but they never whined about their homework, and look at them now: World renowned heroes leading the reconstruction effort."

"Complaining about your homework again, Jet?" asked a voice from the back of the room.

Qrow and Jet looked up to see a young woman in a white hooded cape. The hood and cape were very similar looking to what a certain person Qrow knew a long time ago used to wear. This time, Qrow couldn't help but smile, knowing who was under the hood.

"Hey there, my little ice princess!" said Qrow. "Good to see you again!"

"Good to see you too, dad," said Ivory, taking off her hood.

"What are you even doing here?" asked Jet, annoyed to see his sister.

"I came to catch up with the family," said Ivory, pinching at Jet's cheek. "Though it looks like you haven't changed a bit, you little brat."

"You're just lucky you're dad's favorite!" said Jet, smacking Ivory's arm away. "He always treats you better!"

"Trust me, he doesn't."

"Whatever. I'm late for my next class."

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," replied Ivory. Jet got his stuff and left while sticking his tongue out at Ivory, who stuck her tongue out in return.

"I wish you two would get along better," said Qrow.

"Like what we're doing is any different than how you and mom used to be?" asked Ivory.

"No, but it would save me a lot of headaches, which I'm about to get right now."

Qrow pulled out his drawer and rummaged through his junk to find his bottle of aspirin. Ivory noticed the way Qrow had his books and supplies all sloppily laid out on his desk.

"This desk is so unorganized!" said Ivory. "How do you even work with this mess?"

"I can find everything just fine," said Qrow, still looking for his aspirin. "Where the hell is that bottle?"

"Stand aside," said Ivory, nudging her father out of the way and getting to work fixing Qrow's mess. Ivory rearranged Qrow's supplies so that everything was now in an easy to find place, and that the books were perfectly perpendicular with the desk.

"There!" said Ivory, handing Qrow the aspirin she found buried under the junk. "Nice, clean, and symmetrical! You'll thank me for this."

"I hope you don't do this with everyone you work with," said Qrow. "So, how are things in Atlas? Is your studio doing well?"

"As good as ever! A lot of people really like our animated shows. They constantly send me messages saying it helps brightens their day during these difficult times. We're working on a new version of Pumpkin Pete; check it out!"

With Qrow's desk now cleared, Ivory created a small summon glyph on Qrow's desk and summoned a tiny bunny wearing a shield and sword. Pete turned to Qrow and pointed his sword at him ready to fight. Qrow wasn't impressed by Pete's stature.

"He doesn't look tough," said Qrow. "I'm supposed to think he can be a hero?"

"It's for children, dad!" said Ivory.

"I'm just saying, he looks like that blonde kid Ruby was always around with. Not exactly striking fear into the hearts of villains."

"Speaking of Ruby, how are Ruby and Yang doing?"

"Last I heard they went to Haven with Blake to rebuild some of the towns decimated by Salem's army. They said Weiss went back to Atlas to settle the dispute over the Schnee Dust Company after Jacques kicked the bucket. Have you heard anything?"

"She's going to be the new President of the company. I didn't think she had a chance considering how disconnected papa became from the family, but Aunt Weiss was smart enough to find a way."

"Maybe now with the old man six feet under, they can finally be a respectable company."

"Dad, I know how much you and mom didn't like him, but papa taught me a lot about running a business, and I wouldn't be where I am without his help."

"That jackass never wished us a happy anniversary," said Qrow, feeling some bile about to come up his throat. "I'm still shocked he bothered to send you and Jet birthday presents."

Ivory was annoyed by how disrespectful Qrow was being of her grandfather passing away. She was fully aware of how distant Jacques became of his own daughters, but he still showed Ivory love whenever the two got the chance to talk to each other. In her father's defense though, Jacques did himself no favors with the reputation he built for himself, so it was almost impossible to defend him.

"Anyway," said Qrow, "my day's almost up. Let's rendezvous at the house and we'll catch up on the rest, okay?"

"Sure," said Ivory, leaning over and kissing her father on the cheek. "Love you, dad."

"Love you too, ice princess."

#

When the War on Salem came to an end, Winter received the highest honors that can be bestowed in the Atlas Military. Ironwood was set to have Winter serve as the new General, but Winter decided to retire from active duty and focus on raising her family. She still kept in touch with Atlas' Military as an advisor and the occasional ambassador when dealing with foreign kingdoms.

Winter was preparing for dinner as her boys returned from Signal.

"We're home!" announced Qrow.

"How was school, boys?" asked Winter.

"Terrible!" said Jet. "Dad is being a tyrant!"

"What did you do now, Qrow?"

"He's just mad I expect him to care about weapon handling," said Qrow.

"Not this again," said Winter. "Jet, if you're going to be a huntsman, you need to do your homework. End of story."

"Then tell dad to stop giving me so much work!" complained Jet.

"If you think your father is bad, ask Uncle Ironwood how strict he is on his students."

Jet just moaned and swore under his breath as he went up to his room. Qrow could feel his headache coming back.

"Please tell me this just a teenager thing," said Qrow.

"I don't know," said Winter. "How old were you before you stopped acting that obnoxious?"

"Ha, ha, ha," said Qrow sarcastically. "Anyway, I've got a surprise for you, honey. Guess who came back from the evil clutches of Atlas!"

"Hi, mom!" said Ivory, suddenly appearing behind Qrow.

"Ivory!" said Winter, going up and giving her daughter a big hug. "It's good to see you again! What have you been doing lately?

"Been busy with all the new animation projects I've been coming up with."

"Do you ever take a break, Ivory? It feels like you're always doing something new before you even finish your last work."

"I like to keep busy. How's the retired life?"

"It feels weird having so many days just to myself. I kind of miss the military life. How's life in Atlas?"

"The usual. Wake up, work on my shows, go to bed, repeat."

"And that keeps you so busy, you can't make time to see your family?"

"I have a lot of work!"

"I at least hope you still have time to spend with Rosso."

"I knew I forgot to ask something!" said Qrow. "How is Rosso? Still out hunting for the remaining Grimm?"

Rosso was a huntsman around Ivory's age, whom Ivory met when she started working in Atlas. Qrow got along with Rosso well, and he even asked Qrow for advice on how to become a better huntsman. With Salem defeated, Rosso along with many huntsmen were traveling the world to wipe out what remained of the Grimm still infesting uncharted areas.

"Actually," said Ivory, "about Rosso..."

"Uh oh," said Qrow. "Finally hitting the first snag in your relationship?"

"I hope it isn't serious," said Winter.

"Well," said Ivory, "the thing is...he's not my boyfriend anymore."

"Oh no!" said Winter. "What happened?"

"This happened!" Ivory reached into her pocket and pulled out what appeared to be an engagement ring, shocking Winter.

"That ring! Did he-"

"He did!"

"When?"

"Last night before he left!"

Winter and Ivory were jumping down and up over the good news. While they were ecstatic, Qrow felt there was more to this story than Ivory was letting on. Winter noticed Qrow wasn't excited to hear about Ivory's engagement and could tell he was thinking of something.

"I know that look, Qrow," said Winter. "You think there's something suspicious going on."

"Don't you think it's odd that he decided to propose out of the blue like that?" asked Qrow. "Something doesn't seem right."

"What are you implying, Qrow?"

"I'm just asking why of all times he could propose, he chose to do so now, especially before a Grimm expedition?"

"I think you just don't understand true romance!"

"No mom," said Ivory, "dad is right. There's a reason why Rosso suddenly proposed. The truth is..."

Ivory's eyes darted around the room as she fidgeted her hands. Winter grabbed Ivory's hands to calm her down.

"Ivory," said Winter, "you know you can tell us anything. It's always better to tell the truth. You of all people should know that."

"I know, but...I'm nervous of how you'll react!"

"It can't be any worse than some of the news I've had to break to family members," said Qrow. "So, what's the deal with you and Rosso?"

Ivory took a deep breath and held on to Winter's hands as tight as she could.

"Mom, dad...I'm pregnant!"

It took Winter and Qrow a few moments before the news set in; Winter was at a loss for words while Qrow burst out cheering.

"I don't believe it!" said Qrow. "I'm going to be a grandfather before Tai! Someone remind me to call him later so I can rub it in his face!"

"That's wonderful, Ivory!" said Winter. "I can't believe how grown up you've become!"

"Thanks, mom!"

"Just promise us one thing," said Qrow.

"What is it?"

"Don't keep this a secret from Rosso."

Winter smacked Qrow behind his head, knowing full well who he was referring to about keeping children secret. It also didn't help that Rosso knew about the child in the first place, so Qrow's attempt at a joke was terrible.

That night during dinner, Winter and Ivory spent most of the time planning for the wedding, Jet took his time so he didn't have to go back to his room and do his work, and Qrow was thinking about what having a grandkid was going to be like and how great it would be to brag to Taiyang about it.

#

After Jet and Ivory went to their rooms, Winter and Qrow were watching TV in bed. They barely watched any TV save for Ivory's animated shows just to see what she was coming up with. Her studio's most popular show was the one about Murdo, the bounty hunter who acted like he was only in it for the money but was really a hero at heart. Even though it skewed to an older audience, Qrow could never get into the show.

"Don't tell Ivory this," said Qrow, "but I honestly don't like this show."

"Why?" asked Winter.

"Because every time I see that crow in action, it makes me wish I was back out there fighting. Being a huntsman was all I was ever good at, and now I'm just an old man behind a desk teaching a bunch of lazy kids."

"So you're just passing on your knowledge and experience! You never had a problem with it before!"

"At least I was still active back then. Now I'm just a case of those who can't do, teach."

"You say that as if teaching is a bad thing. If your nieces are anything to go by, you're a great teacher."

"Thanks, babe. You know...teaching isn't the only other thing I'm good at."

Qrow pulled Winter in close and started kissing her neck while Winter ran her hands through Qrow's hair.

"That reminds me," said Winter. "You know what happened this day twenty-five years ago?"

"I hardly remember anything from twenty-five days ago," said Qrow. "What's so special about today?"

"It was the night we celebrated that mission in Vacuo. The night that changed all our lives."

"That was twenty-five years? I still remember it like it was yesterday. You drunk off your rocker, me being a handsome gentleman-"

"You were never a gentleman!" said Winter, swatting Qrow's shoulder.

"Hey Winter, can you be honest with me?"

"What is it?"

"If you could change that night in your life...would you?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"I'm serious. I mean I'm glad we got together, but it wasn't easy getting here, you know? Do you ever think about changing that one day and hoping for a better life?"

Winter leaned over and kissed Qrow on the lips.

"Not for all my father's money," said Winter.

"Then here's to another twenty-five years," said Qrow, wrapping his arms around Winter and kissing her back.

"I love you."

"Love you too, ice queen."

* * *

 **A/N: And so this story is officially over. Special thanks to LadyBritain for the prompt and helping me with Asperger's research, and to all the kind and critical reviews alike.**

 **Qrowin OTP.**


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